UCG: UPDATE From Dennis Luker: Not True That Robin Webber New Temporary UCG President

UPDATE
Robin Webber is the new temporary President until July 1, 2013 when new elections will be held.

Dennis Luker's health situation is far worse than originally thought. He is now unable to function as President of the UCG. He and his wife are returning to Seattle to figure out what course of action to now take.  The cancer was far more widespread that they had imagined.

Dear ministers and home office staff,

As you might expect, when organizations experience what the United Church of God is going through right now with my serious illness, rumors often start flying. This has already begun to happen and various inaccurate reports are circulating online—including that our Council of Elders chairman, Robin Webber, has taken over as UCG president.

Robin and I can assure you that he has not taken over as president. However, LeeAnn and I do plan to return to our home in the state of Washington to pursue treatment for my health condition. This will also enable us be close to our family during that time. Should things change with me health-wise, please remember that in our bylaws we have a tried and true, established process to provide a smooth transition of leadership. Otherwise and God willing, I anticipate continuing as president as my health permits until my term expires on June 30. 

We appreciate your prayers and concern beyond words and will swiftly communicate any major news or changes to you. Thank you to each of you for your faithful service to Jesus Christ and His brethren! It gives us great comfort during this very difficult health trial to know that you are there keeping up the good fight of faith.

With love in Christ,

Dennis Luker

Is It Wrong To Judge Herbert Armstrong?

Below are several choice comments from a blog entry that makes excuses as to why HWA should not be judged for personal failures, but only for doctrinal errors (of which he seems to have committed none.)  The standard excuse in Armstrongism is the "David Defense."  No human leader can be worse than David and his horrendous sins, yet in spite of it all God still loved and used him, and the same also applies to HWA and other COG ministers.

Is this the proper kind of thinking a person should have? What say ye?

"If I followed Mr. Armstrong's advice, don't believe me - believe the Bible, then I have already proved the doctrines I believe from the Bible. If that is the case (it is), why should I care now if Mr. Armstrong did something wrong?

What would be my motive for wanting to know? Morbid curiosity? It won't affect my faith in God, or the Bible, or the doctrines I have proved from the Bible, so why would I be interested? For the sake of gossip? To feed my vanity, to feel superior to Mr. Armstrong in some way, or to distract myself from my own sins?"

"But do I have any business judging Mr. Armstrong? Where does it say in the Bible that I have been given that job? Would I serve on a jury if I was assigned jury duty? Would I not ask for exemption based on my religious beliefs that Christ said, "judge not" (Matthew 7:1-5)? What a hypocrite I would be if I refused jury duty, yet set myself up to judge if Mr. Armstrong was guilty in one thing or another that his accusers charge him with! What he did or did not do is absolutely none of my business. Christ will judge him. I only need to check up his doctrines in the Bible and believe the Bible. And I need to respect the office he has held and obey the biblical command, "esteem them highly", referring to the ministry (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). That's kind of hard to do if I am looking for his faults. "

"Someone took an inheritance issue to Christ to resolve, but Jesus said, "who made me a judge over you?" (Luke 12:13-14). Should I not follow Christ's example? Who made me a judge of Mr. Armstrong? I will judge his doctrines, because I have to, but I don't have to judge the man himself. Christ will do that."

"I know from Mr. Armstrong's teachings and from the history of the Church that God has used him in a VERY powerful way. Mr. Armstrong has borne a lot of good fruit that far outweighs anything bad he might have done (Matthew 7:15-20). Even if he were an unrighteous sinner, I am a witness that he taught the Bible more accurately and preached the true gospel more effectively than anyone else in his time. And I do not believe he was an unrighteous sinner.

Of course he was not perfect. I don't know his faults, but God does. But the Bible shows that many servants of God had serious faults, and yet that did not prevent God from using them for His work."

"Did Mr. Armstrong ever commit adultery with another man's wife, then have that man killed to cover it up, then marry his widow? I don't think so, but David did. Did he frequent whore houses? I don't think so, but Samson did, and Samson is listed in the faith chapter of Hebrews. Did he ever tell someone his wife was his sister because he didn't trust God to protect him from those who might want his wife? Abraham did that, and Isaac too.

How many times did David, a man after God's heart, tell a lie? I already mentioned the half-truth Abraham told about Sarah being his sister instead of his wife. But look at David. When he first fled from Saul, he told the priest, "I am on the king's business", but he wasn't. The priest gave him food and a sword, then later Saul killed the priest for it. David later admitted he caused the death of God's priest (1 Samuel 20:28-42, 21:1-9, 22:6-22). Then David fled and lived with the Philistines for a while. His men and he would go out raiding various cities and villages, some of which may have been allied with the Philistines, killing all the men and women so no one would be alive to tell on him, then go back to the Philistine ruler and say, "we went raiding the cities of Judah today", or something like that (1 Samuel 27:1-12). "

"It is a deadly trap for any one of us to compare ourselves with others in the Church or to judge others if we don't have to judge them to make a decision. We end up thinking too well of ourselves when we look at the faults of others in comparison. "...But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (2 Corinthians 10:12). Judging others is a sure recipe for becoming Laodicean."

"Do you or I have a reason to judge Mr. Armstrong? Only his doctrines, and I can judge that by studying my Bible. I don't have to judge his behavior, so I will try not to. Maybe I can look at the history of how he has administrated the Church during his life, and I might look at and evaluate his mistakes in the sense of understanding how Christ is working with the Church, or in the sense of learning lessons that can be applied today, but I do not want to judge him personally as far as how he "measures up". I will just give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he did the best he could and leave it at that."

 "Now, in saying I have no right or good reason to judge Mr. Armstrong, I am not saying I think any of allegations against him have any truth in them. I am only saying that even if they might be true, I have no right or reason to try to investigate in order to judge Mr. Armstrong's personal character because it won't affect my doctrinal beliefs I have proved in the Bible. But in my opinion, Mr. Armstrong probably is not guilty of any of the sins of which he is accused."

 "So I have the assurance that, regardless of any false accusations made against Mr. Armstrong by his enemies, I do not need to be discouraged or troubled about the doctrines I have proved from the Bible, the work God has done through Mr. Armstrong, or the work that must still be done by all of us in the Church today (God has put a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, to warn the world, and we are accountable to God for how we fulfill our responsibility)."

The Duty of COG Members

Here is an interesting comment from the All About Armstrongism blog about the duty of Church members in the Church of God.

A WCG Christian’s duty, in brief, then, was to send in tithes, pray for Herbert Armstrong, support the ministry, attend church, give offerings, and serve the Church – not the world.

Service, in fact, was a huge part of the WCG Christian’s duty. They usually kept you so busy, it was next to impossible to do anything else with other groups, anyway. If you didn’t volunteer, it sometimes would not be too long until you were literally assigned a service position. Again, there were many. Greeter, Library, Tape Library, Usher, Sound, Setup, Kitchen, Lectern Mover and Waterboy, Youth sports, childrens educational programs, hymnals, you name it, there was a job. If you did all of these duties, you were doing what was considered a Christian’s duty. Love God, Love Herbert, Love the Work, Serve the Church, and forget the rest of the uncalled, unsaved – they’ll have their chance at the second resurrection.

Community Service, then, was the job of Pasadena, the Headquarters, and Herbert Armstrong, not the lay member. They had the large jewel of Ambassador Auditorium, and they “served the community” by offering extravagent performances by the world’s finest artists. Pavarotti, Rubenstein, Bob Hope, and many A-list musicians and performers were brought in to grace the stage of Ambassador to the delight of Pasadena’s culturally elite, at great expense to the Church. These concert series put the church in great standing with Pasadena and the rich and famous of southern California, and also put Herbert Armstrong in a great light in the community. But there were no programs to my knowledge for the poor and destitute of Pasadena. In fact, the Church bought out the slum houses around their complex and turned them into magnificent grounds for their college. The work was too grand to be around low income housing. So, the homes were bought and the college expanded. There were to my knowledge  no pancake dinners for the poor, no soup dinners for the homeless, no evangelical outreach for the needy, no charity clothing drives for the scarcely clothed. The poor were shunned and the rich were served.

When a person has stepped back from Armstrongism and investigated it, the above comments are glaringly non-Christian.

Growing up in  the RCG/WCG we drove 150 miles each way to church.   Wednesday nights were Bible Study (commanded), men had Spokesmen Club, members were expected to keep the ministers lawn and home in good condition,  Monday nights were set aside to dress in Sabbath wear to listen/watch the telecast, Youth group met on Thursday evenings and so on.  My family spend the other evenings growing huge gardens so we could feed other church members.  In my mother's spare time she was making quilts for new mothers and senior citizens. It was one thing after another to keep a person occupied and away from the evil satanic world that surrounded them.  Satan was working overtime to ensnare us with earthly delights and the Church felt its duty was to keep us snared in its grasp.

The comments about the auditorium were spot on.  It was all about impressing the community and the world. Nothing was done for the poor.  They were poor because they had sinned and God had not blessed them.  Besides, God was going to take care of them in the Kingdom, so why waste money on them now.

The Chief roll of a church member was to support the work and NOT to take care of the world.  Herbert Armstrong wrote:

Anyone who does not have his whole heart in that work IS NOT A MEMBER OF GOD’S TRUE CHURCH, and has no right whatsoever to attend or fellowship in any of its local congregations. The very FIRST purpose, then, of each local congregation is the FIRST purpose of God’s Church as a whole — to encourage, pray for, hear reports about, and help in — in whatever manner may be possible — the great work of God of preaching and publishing the true GOSPEL to all the world.

In other words, pray, pay and obey.