The Church of God: Embarassed By The Cross?

Given the extent many of us were entrenched in Armstrongism I am sure we all heard how evil crosses were.  Armstrongism has had a deep hatred for crosses over the decades.

Years ago there was an opera in the Auditorium.  The opera was TOSCA.  The first act of Tosca takes place in a chapel.  Traditional European chapels contained crosses.  This opera company had a large cross set up on stage in the stage sets.  HWA was in the habit of coming down to the auditorium to play the piano early in the morning.  When he walked in and saw the cross he just about lost it. He started screaming and yelling that that cross had to be removed or the opera would be cancelled.  The shit hit the fan rather fast and flew all over the place.  It made the headlines in the local papers and the Los Angeles Times.

That hatred still carries over to this day to the Living Church of God where we saw the disgusting articles put out by Bob Thiel after the Milwaukee LCG murders.  Local citizens erected crosses in memory of those killed.  Thiel went ballistic about the pagan crosses and how inconsiderate and unthoughtful the citizens of Milwaukee were to the LCG members.  He made a royal ass of himself and caused LCG more problems.

Today, I received a note from a reader telling me about Gerald Flurry's cult and it's latest article condemning crosses.  Flurry's lap poodle, Wayne Turgeon, has a short blurb on PCG's web site about how evil crosses are.

He writes:

First, are you sure that Christ died on the cross? History, and more recently archeology, show that the cross was used as a religious symbol centuries before Christ. The shape of the two-beamed cross had its origin in ancient Chaldea and was used to represent the god Tammuz. Tammuz is the deified Nimrod, the first man to lead the opposition against God after the great Flood. He founded the city of Babylon, and along with his mother/wife Semiramis, founded the pagan Babylon mystery religion—the origin of all false religion today. The Egyptians used crosses in abundance, as did the Hindus. The British Museum, for example, exhibits statues of the ancient Assyrian kings wearing almost perfect Maltese crosses around their necks.

He is so concerned about pre-Christianity’s use of crosses, yet never discusses the feast days and holy days that were observed by the "pagan" nations that surrounded the Israelites who basically copied those dates and re-imagined them for a new purpose that fit the story of the Children of Israel.

With Armstrongism's deep hatred of the cross they need something for what they call "Jesus Christ" to be killed on.  So they pick a few verses that call the instrument of Jesus’ death a "stake."

Turgeon writes:

The New Testament does not specifically describe the instrument upon which Christ died, but the following accounts all use the Greek word xulon, which can be translated as “tree,” but can also mean “a stick, club … or other wooden articles” (Strong’s).

·         “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree” (Acts 5:30).

·         “And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree” (Acts 10:39).

·         “And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre” (Acts 13:28-29).

·         “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).

·         “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Unlike Wayne and PCG, when Christians wear a cross, it is because they have unashamedly chosen to pick up their cross daily and follow the person they claim as Savior.

Jesus said this to his followers:

Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not
worthy of Me.
Luke 9:23 And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot
be My disciple. 

These people would not be ashamed to have carry a cross or even wear one.  Of course this makes no difference to those entrenched in Armstrongism.  They have no idea who the man is, they can't comprehend any thing about the guy, what he supposedly was here to accomplish or even what it means to be the People of the Way.

Philadelphia Church of God leaders and followers worship a man.  There are buildings built in his honor, rocks dedicated to his name, sculptures and crystal bought by him, and much, much more.  Herbert Armstrong is the face of the PCG. Jesus is not.  HWA's face and name are on everything.  Booklets, books and articles glorify his name and his writings as on par with the Gospel.  They have whored themselves out to a rock, some metal birds, and a false man.

I think what really pisses off the Armstrongites the most is the understanding that Christians have that the law passed away at the cross.  The law in Armstrongism is far more important than the cross.  The law is far more important than Jesus.  Jesus to them is like an annoying zit.  You see it there and ignore it for a while and then you have to pop it open so it will go away.  They begrudgingly have to mention Jesus once a year at Passover and then conveniently do away with him the rest of the year.

Since Wayne and Gerald Six-Pack claim to be Christians I wonder why ignore this:

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Dennis on: "Surrendering to the Mystery"

Surrendering to the Mystery

"How do you know the experience you are having is the experience you are suppose to be having?...  Because you are having it."

Eckhart Tolle

I don't think anyone would argue with the reality that the Worldwide Church of God experience was a life changer in many ways.  I can't speak for others, but I know that had I not had the WCG experience, I would have had the same experience in some other form, with others I never met and friends I never made because I had the WCG experience.  I know that whatever theology, and I had been accepted to a Wesleyan Seminary before being accepted to Ambassador College, I adopted, I know that I personally would have had a crisis of faith and gone through the same learning that I feel I have now learned about the Bible and religion.  Somewhere in my 40's no matter what church I had thought I needed to pastor and minister in, I would have generally the same experience and come to the same conclusions though perhaps under different circumstances.

When I was 18, I had to follow the WCG.  You could not have stopped me.  I tucked my application under my shirt and secretly mailed it so my parents would not know what I had done.  I was surprised when the local pastor in Buffalo called me to interview me and my parents invited him over just fine.  They actually became good friends as my parents are like that. 

When push came to shove and I had not heard from AC and the Wesleyan Seminary had already accepted me, I called Pasadena and said I needed a decision now.  The lady on the phone said, "just a minute."  She then came back and said you are accepted.  How hilarious is that.  What a turn of the wheel of fate that was to prove to be and all the associated lessons to come.

I eventually got on a plane and somewhere over the Western US knowing it would be my last, ate a ham sandwich on the approach to Los Angeles.  I had already had my last Xmas and my last Easter.  I was one naive yet sincerely seeking kid at 18.  Oh..and it was the height of the Vietnam draft as well and at 18, my draft number was 14 if I remember and I ain't no soldier.

To keep it short, the whole WCG experience played out over 40 years.  College, 14 congregations, 5 states, a scandal every five years along with a nagging tension that things should not be this difficult in a religious organization.  The older I got, the more I regretted the choice I know you could not have talked me out of originally.  My mind found all sorts of ways to cope.
 "Well this is like the New Testament Church.  They had problems too."  "Well, every organization has its cranks."  "Oh that's not true and even if is, people are just people."  "After HWA dies it will be better."  "I'm not giving sermons on that topic anymore."  "I wish I had never heard of WCG."  "I wish I had gone to the University of Penn and become a paleontologist......"   

Kids grew up, relationships were strained, anger became a suppressed friend,  painbodies erupted, marriage fails,  relationships fail,  I want to now know what I should have known to begin with and the rest is history.

Sometimes I sit here with Chewie the Wookie like Shih Tzu talking to her and asking, "what the hell happened Chewie?"  I get the Buddhist look of "life happened....what's your point?"
 

 

What happened was a story.  We all have one.  Had I gone to Roberts Wesleyan Seminary instead of AC, it would have been a different story.  Had I not delayed a plane trip at age 21 for a day, I'd be dead as it was hit by a fighter jet over Duarte, California June 6, 1971.   So many ways a story can change.

But I had the WCG experience.  Was it a good experience or a bad one?   I don't have to judge it or define it I suppose, but I do have to live with it and the only choice I have is , not did I have it, but what do I do with it?  Crying over spilled milk and all.

I can't speak for anyone but myself.  But I do know that each of us has to answer the question, "Has this experience made me a better person or a worse one?"  Can one accept what is unchangeable now and chalk it up to just being a story which at anytime could have changed courses and been another one?   Can you change one thing about the experience that is already past?  Can I undo it?  Can I fix it?   Can I wish it away?  etc...Nope...It is what it is and the years go on and eventually we run out of time any way.  I'm not going to be an paleontologist specializing in Neanderthal's in Europe.  My Kodak dad always said he wanted to be a State Trooper so I guess this trait runs in the family.  

The stages of going through the crash of WCG and the faith and perceptions of tens of thousands contains all the stages and traits of what one goes through when something or someone dies.  It is a perceived loss.  At the time I wondered why a couple hundred folk could not have run the Tkaches out of town on a rail and kept it all together, but now I realize that, for me, that would have only been a temporary fix.  I was bound to outgrow it in any form.

So, when it's all said and done, are we better or worse for it all?   Only each can answer for themselves.  Some are more vocal than others.  For the thousands that read this site, it is interesting to me that there is just a core group of those who jump in.  I assume all others just read and think about it all.  Because if we perceive we are worse for it all and intend to spend the rest of our time bitter, angry and manifesting all the things painbodies love to feed on, how does that serve us?  How does that serve you?   What does that make of the rest of our lives?

"What eats you...eats you.."  comes to mind.   Emotions can make the heart and the body quite ill.  How does that serve me?

So, for my own sake, and I can't speak for others, I surrender.  I had this experience that was full of both joy and sorrow, good times and bad, great gains and losses, friends and not friends,  success and failure and just about every dichotomy there is in life.  There was much to be thankful for and some to be sorry for in hind site.

"How do you know the experience you are having is the experience you are suppose to be having?...  Because you are having it."

I don't see anyway it could have been different than it was and is.  The only choice left is what to learn from and do with it in what I now consider to be just one more way of attending Earth School.

Email Dennis

Ron Weinland: Court Documents State: "...Weinland has no respect for the law."

Court documents record that Ron Weinland has no respect for the law (of the land.)  That goes against everything that Herb taught us in the church. Wee were told to follow the laws of the land and to render to Cesar what was his.  Weinerdude too what he thought was his and also stiffed the government.

3. Promote respect for the law.
The facts of this case demonstrate Weinland has no respect for the law. Weinland was revered as the leader of his church and as the Prophet. Church members testified that it did not matter to them what Weinland spent or what he was paid. Weinland could have paid himself and his family members virtually any salary, and the members of PKG neither would have been concerned nor known. Yet, Weinland chose to comingle funds and expenses, file false W-2s, and file false returns (or no return), all in an attempt to evade paying taxes. To date, Weinland has neither admitted culpability nor accepted responsibility for his criminal conduct.

Income taxes are a duty required by federal law. The federal income tax system is based on voluntary taxpayer participation. For it to function, taxpayers must respect the law and follow it. Weinland cannot be allowed to fail to pay $245,000 in taxes on approximately $4.4 million dollars under these circumstances merely because he is a religious leader. No one is above the law. A significant term of imprisonment in this case will promote respect for the law.

The entire court document is here: The Sentencing of False Prophet Ronald Weinland