Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Ex-COG Street Musician Says: “The paradigm stopped working for me.”

Accordion player Terri Conti performs on Church Street. / JOHN BRIGGS/FREE PRESS

Her travels have been extensive. She was born on Long Island, moved early to Succasunna, N.J., 
and went to college in California at the Worldwide Church of God’s Ambassador College. 
(She has long since left that group: “The paradigm stopped working for me.”)



Here is an interesting story about an ex-WCG member who left the church and is now a street musician who is in the process of memorizing 1,000 songs for the accordion.

Imagine living a life doing the things you want to do without a minister telling you what you SHOULD be doing.  That is a truly unique concept missing from Armstrongism.




Van Robison on "Does Any Splinter Group of the WCG Have Truth?




"Does Any Splinter Group of the WCG Have Truth?


Of course they all proclaim they have truth, but the reality is that NONE of them do.  Those who lead all these groups are either self-deceived or else they are in it for the $cash.  The song and dance is that you must
"keep the Sabbath" and annual "Holy" days, along with tithing or else you are among the deceived.  Well, if you are snared by one of these groups, do you live in fear?  Do you really think that God is out to "get you" if
you do not sacrifice your life to one of these groups and whoever pretends he represents God?

Oh what a fraud!  FEAR is the great reason so many are taken captive.  Strange indeed since Jesus came to set the captives free.  Every splinter group of the WCG takes captives and makes those captive think and believe that they speak for God.  Pure hogwash!  NO splinter group  leader or group of leaders speaks for God.  It is exasperating to try to convince childish adult minds that they are being used and abused for no other reason than $money.

How do I know that NO splinter group of the WCG has truth?  Simple:  because Jesus Christ IS NOT the founder of man-made churches that feign that they represent Christ.  No physical church group on earth, among the many thousands of groups speak for Jesus Christ or for truth;  they speak for themselves---pure and simple.  Money, money, money, that is what church is all about.  Think it is not true?  If you feel compelled, why not meet for free at the local park, down by the river, at the flower garden or at the farm?  And while you are at it, why not allow EVERYONE to share what they think and want to say, instead of the "pastor", who thinks he has the only "right" to speak?

Don't we all have a song in our heart?  In the churches, whatever is in your heart is never heard, because the extremely vain and selfish preacher, only wants to hear his own voice, not you.


Van Robison

Dennis on: What is Ron Weinland Getting At?




What is Ron Weinland Getting At?

 
Note: Saturday, September 15, 2012.  Still listening. Quite amazing.  Ron is describing himself but seems about to dis-member  someone for "desiring to be teachers of the law..."  "They want to teach what they believe is right..."  Fascinating....stay tuned...  Someone's ass is grass I think...and it doesn't appear to be Ron's.  He is still beating around the bush... Starting to smell like an ordained man...Here it comes......
 
hmmmmmm.....nuttin'  

 
 
Dennis Diehl - EzineArticles Expert AuthorFor the last four weeks, Ron Weinland has been babbling on and on about "going to your brother."  Four weeks!!!  With the world plunging into chaos financially, militarily and emotionally, Ron, the Witness of all Humanity, can only concentrate on going to your brother when you have a problem with them.  He is lost in many being offended, betrayed, hating one another and the rise of false prophets.  Four sermons!   What's going on with this man?
 
I can't speak for Ron Weinland.  I can't even figure out what he is getting at half of the time in his sermons, much less understand why he feels he has to talk for hours and hours about "going to your brother."
 
Personally, I think he is simply preparing the Church for his upcoming sentence for fraud and tax evasion.  However, he also seems like he is having to react to someone who is resisting him now after his conviction
 
Seems like a no brainer to me but Ron has not ONCE mentioned his conviction in a sermon since it came down on him.  Obviously, there is NO ONE in his current congregation willing to stand up and ask him what's going on.  He is turning his selfish, greedy, ignorant and materialistic ministry that supplied him with all the physical perks anyone could wish for, into a New Testament example of persecution.  His congregations must be brain dead.
 
Ron talks of those who do things they should not do.  He speaks of things that are wrong and that everyone makes mistakes.  He talks about how others can stumble over the offense caused by others in the church.  He has to be talking about himself and simply cannot admit it.  The man simply needs to put all HIS cards and HIS getting caught doing what no one is allowed to do with the money of others, much less in Church and apologize.  He , like so many before him, seem to have zero capacity to say, "I apologize,"  "I was wrong,"  "Please forgive me."
 
He is today speaking of having the freedom to do what one wants but that sometimes the weak get offended.  Really?  Is that how he feels about his crimes and misappropriation of the hard earned money of those who gave to preach a Gospel? 
 
Ron is trying to retreat to the position of the innocent.  At least in my opinion.  No one gives eight hours of sermons on such a topic after a personal conviction for mispending everyone's money on himself and family and not be talking about himself.  He appears to want to be forgiven, but is going around the barn of the New Testament and topics totally unrelated to his offenses to get there. 
 
Saying, "I am so sorry,"  "I was wrong,"  "I don't know what I was thinking," "Please forgive me,"  "I am getting some help and counseling," is NOT something I ever heard much at all , if at all, in WCG or any of their splits, splinters and slivers. 
 
GTA never apologized for anything to anyone I can remember.  If he had, it might have gone differently.  HWA certainly never apologized for his own arrogance or misunderstanding of himself.  Gerald Waterhouse never uttered the words, "I meant well, but I missed big time..."  The Tkaches certainly NEVER  apologized for tearing the soul out a mostly sincere body of believers and throwing it under the bus.  The Tkaches should have left WCG and taken their Imperial School cronies with them, but pulled off a coup in that everyone but them had to leave.  Pretty darn amazing miracle Jesus worked there!
 
At any rate, this does not need to be long.  Ron Weinland is once again proving that saying one is sorry and apologetic over stupid things done to the harm and at the expense of others simply is not something the man can face.  Forget the Bible Ron.  The Bible does not hold the key to your problem nor an explanation of how your left over members need to view you. 
 
If someone in your church is offended and moves on, they aren't necessarily falling away or going going astray.  You offended them! 
 
Next week Ron...get up at your church and go where no man in the COG has ever gone before.  Read this...
 
"Brethren..I was wrong and I believe you have read enough about my mistakes to not force me to repeat them here.  I will if I need to.  But I apologize for my mistakes. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you."
 
Then sit down Ron.  Let someone else give the sermon.  Take a break. Show them you're not just another one man show doing all he can to retain power, control and the impression you know what you are talking with every time you open your mouth. 
 
Stop using the word  "you," and change it to "I" on these topics. 
 
Congregants...Ron says you are all called to something special.  I can't speak for that but I think  you are being called to apply the New Testament scriptures in ways that they were never meant to be applied on topics that are not yours to face. 
 
In the world of psychology and how the mind works when faced with personal shortcomings, this is called projection.  Ron is projecting his issues on you.  He reads I Corinthians about fornication in the church and hiding it as if it was YOU that was the problem.  He is projecting all this on you.  It is not about you. 
 
He says YOU are tolerating things in the body that you should not tolerate. On this he is correct.  I do not know if he has others things in the congregation in mind during this long drawn out series on a minor topic but he may be both deflecting and projecting his own stuff. 
 
We'll see I guess....
 
 
Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com