COGWA: "Many in the COG Suffer From Emotional and Psychological Problems

The Church of God a Worldwide Association has an article up on it's web page geared towards young adults.  It starts off mentioning that many in the Church of God suffer from anxiety, emotional, and psychological problems. No shocker there!

COGWA had the opportunity to start afresh with new ideas and new ways of doing things when they had their hissy fit and left United Church of God late last year  All indicators over the last year have proven that they have no new ideas and that they are deeper entrenched in the worship of "all things Herb, all the time and in all ways."

Armstrongism has always taken a deep seated hatred against therapy, counseling, and psychiatry.  HWA, GTA and Rod Meredith have always made tremendous effort to mock and ridicule therapy and psychiatry.

So what words of wisdom has COGWA spelled out for those suffering from anxiety, mental health issues and psychological problems in the Church of God?

Christians are not immune to the emotional and psychological problems facing many in the world today. We aren’t comfortable talking about them, but ignoring them doesn’t make them go away. How can we begin to deal with these challenging issues?

As Christians, we know that we will suffer various kinds of trials and tribulations and that our trials can test us and help us grow. Jesus Christ mentioned this reality and gave us encouragement: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Many in the Church of God suffer from anxiety disorders and/or other sorts of emotional and psychological problems. Speaking from personal experience, these are difficult things to deal with, and the subject is not talked of often within the Church. When facing difficult times, my searches generally uncovered little help beyond the advice to pray about it and try to overcome fear.

The second paragraph translates into Armstrongite speak that, mental health issues are "trials and tribulations that we bear because we are "aliens in this world."  Because we live in this world we are filled with anxiety and suffer greatly.

Could that anxiety be coming from horrible aberrant doctrines and sermons by evangelists and ministers threatening the members with every imaginable kind of curse unless they follow their jack booted masters diligently?

What about the anxiety that is produced from endless speculation and silliness regarding the end times, the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation?  How much blood, guts and gore can people take before they have mental issues?

We saw that first hand when one of Rod Meredith's cult members snapped after listening to one of Rod's sermons and went on a shooting  spree killing several  members.  We see it in action with all the end times speculation that is rampant in Armstorngism.  In Bob Thiel's 2012-2016 bullshit, in Apostle Malm's specific date setting, to Wiener Dude Weinlands moronic prophecies which had ALL failed, to LCG's sick obsession with  violence, death and torture in the end times.  The list can go on and on.


So what is the magical COG fix for mental health issues?

The first thing they are told to do is pray about it.  While this may work for a select few, this will NOT cure the vast majority of  people with mental issues. Working with a 'higher power' along with good therapy and counseling techniques will work together for the better.  But when "prayer" is mentioned in COGspeak it has different meaning than it does for most Christians. COG prayers are heard before all other prayers in the world.  COG prayers have a direct pipeline into God's ears where it will be dealt with in some magical way.

 Praying is our most powerful tool as a Christian; being able to take any problem to our Almighty Creator is an incredible blessing! And overcoming fear is also important, although those who suffer from anxiety are obviously going to have a harder time with that—and it doesn’t necessarily mean they are short in the faith department.

Next they are told to "overcome fear." as if it is their fault they are in this condition.  Why are they fearful?  Could it be because of aberrant doctrines and church teachings?  Fear of theologically bankrupt ministers? Or, a deep seated fear of  a god that they think is sitting there in glee waiting for them to commit some kind of sin so he can dish out well deserved punishment?

The author goes on:

I’ve grown up in the Church and am a baptized member of the Church of God, and I have an anxiety disorder. I’ve learned a lot through the ups and downs. Here are a few things I’ve learned:
Never give up on God!
No matter what, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, despite how impossible it may seem. The following scriptures helped me through troubled, and often scary, times.
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by” (Psalm 57:1).
“Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

Seek God’s help
Pray; fast; get anointed. God will bless you for seeking Him. Go boldly before God and ask for help.

Pray, fast and get anointed.  You fast because you know you must have something topower to do what a real therapist cannot do.  When this method is used it is an endless circle of disappointment.  "Why haven't I been healed, I need to fast  more and pray more because I still must be doing something wrong!"   Years go by as the person does this cycle over and over as they sink deeper and deeper into mental  health issues.

Don’t keep things inside
I know it feels like you’re the only one who has ever felt this way; but you’re not. Opening up to my pastor and to my family was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, but it was the first step in getting where I am today—and believe me, I am in a much better place today!

Seeking help from a trained and qualified pastor will work wonders if he is trained in good counseling methods.  Sadly, there is not a single COG minister alive that has had proper training in counseling techniques and therapy!  Almost all counseling training is "in house" training, because it is not tainted by the "world's techniques".  That's why we have ministers in the COG refusing to deal with rapists and child abusers.  With violent husbands, alcoholism and rampant drug abuse.

Get help
I think that in the past, a negative stigma has been associated with mental health problems and with seeking professional help for them. The stigma is not without cause. There are psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists who look negatively on religion and God and do not work within biblical principles.

On this the author is correct.  The COG has mad a mockery out of mental health professionals.  A well trained therapist or psychiatrist can easily see if dangerous religious beliefs are causing issues.  The problem is that COG members think there is no issue with their beliefs.  "There is no way what I have been taught is wrong.  God revealed this lost information after 1,900 years to God's Apostle and there is no way he ever made a mistake!"

I met with one therapist who was convinced my religious convictions were somehow to blame, but obviously that is not the case. I think he would be shocked if he saw the positive change in me, even though I still attend church and have the same beliefs!

A wise therapist!  A foolish COG member!

But, after praying and searching, God has led me to other professionals who have helped me, and who were supportive of my beliefs.
The decision to seek treatment and the treatment you choose are very personal choices.

At least this person did go outside the COG to get some help.  However, like all god COG members, not too much credit is not given to those people, all the credit goes towards the church and the "truth" they have that they think magically cured them.

As long as any person remains part of an Armstrongite Church of God, there will never be totally mentally healthy.

Google

Pope Benedict Google's "Gerald Flurry"

Does Being A Sabbath Keeper Give You Special Protection From God?

For decades I heard over and over from various ministers that because we were faithful sabbath keepers we were set apart from the world by God and given special protection.  Ministers always loved to get up in church after some major disaster and trumpet out that Mr and Mr's Set Apart's home and business were left untouched by the tornado that destroyed every single home next to them over a 50 mile wide path.  Their home alone out of 30,000 homes was spared........or, "...the earthquake damaged thousands of homes in New Zealand, but all of our Church members homes were not damaged, not even a broken glass..."

Of course, such miracles could only occur in Church of God land.  Anyone outside the "true church" were agents of Satan and were not able to be protected.  That's the simplistic logic and magical god that permeated Armstrongism and still does to this day.

This mentality is not unique to Armstrongism, it is also found in other Sabbatarian sects.  Take a look at this story in the latest Seventh Day Adventist, Adventist World for a similar story of miraculous protection.

Note that this story has only women in it, no men or children were spared. Unbelieving husbands who refused to believe were killed.

While I have no doubt 'miraculous' things have occurred around the world that are unexplainable, there is something not quit right about this story.  If this is true then it should scare all Armstrongites into leaving their respective splinter cults and head over to the nearest SDA church ASAP!

The Hiroshima Miracle: Saved from the atom bomb

When the first atomic bomb in history was dropped on Hiroshima on the morning of August 6, 1945, it destroyed everything within a two-kilometer (1.2-mile) radius: the temperature of the ground reached an unimaginable 6,000° C (10,832° F). Everyone within a four-kilometer (2.5 mile) radius was burned to death. A tremendous wind, at the speed of 4.4 kilometers (2.7 miles) per second, was generated, causing even cement buildings to collapse and broken glass to fly up to 16 kilometers (9.94 miles) away. The radiation from the bomb was unbelievably strong, causing those exposed to it to lose all bodily functions and their cells to undergo apoptosis, a kind of cellular suicide. Between the blast itself, the resulting fires throughout the city, and the radiation burns, some estimate that 200,000 citizens of Hiroshima lost their lives.

Not One Adventist Harmed
In the midst of all this devastation, was it really possible that not one church member, even the one living within 1 kilometer (.62 miles) of where the bomb hit, was killed, or even hurt?

During her investigation the journalist heard the testimony of church member Mrs. Hiroko Kainou, who, surprised by the sudden fierce wind, fell to her knees and prayed. Though every piece of glass in the house blew out, she came away without a single scratch. All of the other 20 Adventist church members in Hiroshima were also kept alive and safe. Though six of them have since passed away from old age, Mr. and Mrs. Morita, the Yoshimuras, the Sumis, the Matsutanis, and others are still active.

Iwa Kuwamoto, who is still doing evangelism from her home by telephone and letter at age 83, was within one kilometer (.62 miles) of the bomb site when the bomb fell. When she crawled out from under the fallen buildings, she witnessed the giant mushroom cloud that was obscuring the sun and shrouding the land in darkness. She tried desperately to help her husband, an unbeliever at the time, to get out from under the fallout, but the raging fires were threatening to close in on them. Taking her husband’s hand and crying, (Iwa) said, “The fire will be here soon. I can’t do anything more, so let’s die here together. God knows everything. Please believe in Jesus Christ. I cannot save you!” But her husband said, “No. I will die here, but you must escape for our children’s sake. You must somehow get to safety and find the children. Do it for the children!”