The craziness at PCG continues today with the latest article about children being FORCED to behave in church services.
Joel Hilliker, a junior underling at PCG HQ has penned another child rearing article he is not qualified to be writing. Before and After Services - Still Holy Time
The true identity of the true church is well behaved children. Apostle Paul would know it was a COG because the kiddies were well behaved.
What would the Apostle Paul say if he walked in on one of our Sabbath services?Of course well behaved children behave because their daddy has made them submissive and scared shitless.
He wrote that we should know “how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Timothy 3:15, Revised Standard Version).
In those congregations that are blessed to have children, the behavior of those young ones can make all the difference in whether the services really represent the name Philadelphia Church of God. That is, whether they uphold the Philadelphian standard; whether they befit the very elect, called-out ones; and whether they honor the Being whose name we stand for.
Paul said a leader in the Church should be “one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence” (verse 4, New King James Version). Every parent with children at home should have that goal. Our children’s Sabbath behavior is an excellent test of how well we are living up to it.
Now that PCG kids are submissive in church, the PCG is extending it's reach beyond church services. That strict and vigilant ENFORCEMENT of the law for church etiquette has to extend to the home also.
In my last column we talked about how our children should behave during services in order to minimize distractions and to prepare them to receive the instruction as they get older. Here we’ll discuss the standard we should strive to maintain in our children’s behavior before and after services.Hilliker continues on by quoting the letter that HWA reprinted in the Good News form his son Richard David covering child rearing practices. That abusive drivel has been discussed on various COG sites over the last week. Given that Hilliker now brings that letter up as a shining truth means that PCG is closely monitoring these blogs. Its not a coincidence.
“Many of our brethren may not fully realize the seriousness of strict training and vigilant enforcement of behavior of children at Church services,” Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in the Good News magazine, May 1981. “God is holding every one of you parents responsible!”
This sickest part of HWA's praise of Richard's abuse, is this:
The lengths that PCG goes to to lick HWA's ass is appalling.
In this article, Mr. Armstrong reprinted a letter his son Richard David wrote in 1958 to the brethren in the Fresno congregation addressing children’s behavior at Sabbath services. “I do not think my son really wrote this letter, except as God’s instrument. The living Christ, I feel, actually authored it,” he explained. “But it contains a dynamic sermon on the responsibility of parents for the training and the behavior of their children at Church services.”
What an endorsement from God’s end-time Elijah! Consider the main points of instruction and correction this Christ-authored letter has for us parents.
So what can your kiddies do on Saturdays?
That is the overarching principle we must remember when we monitor and regulate our children’s behavior before and after services. This is still holy time. Isaiah 58:13 commands that we all—including our children—refrain from doing our own pleasure to ensure the Sabbath is “holy of the Lord, honourable.”
That means no running or horseplay. The children should not be throwing things, or noisily rolling cars around, or being overly loud. Boys seem especially prone to such behavior. We must direct them toward appropriate alternatives.
“Of course your children can play with the other children when services are over,” said the August 1965 Good News. “They should look forward to and enjoy the Sabbath when they see all their friends again. But this is not license to sail airplanes out of restroom windows, wrestle on the floor, or bang chairs around ….”
Our children should be quiet and orderly throughout the Sabbath. They should respect the property at services—including songbooks and other children’s toys—and have a sense of decorum befitting the occasion.
Also, take some time before and/or after services to have your children speak with adults. Teach them how to be friendly—to look them in the eye, to answer questions (hopefully with more than a yes or no), to speak up.
Two more points: Children should be taught not to walk through adult conversations (we can all help with this). They should be taught not to interrupt when adults are talking.
The Chief Pharisee and apostle responds: