Stephen Flurry, ever so struggling to be important in Daddy's shadow, is back with a pre-feast message to the gullible followers.
He starts his article off about how important co-workers and volunteers are to the PCG. Apparently the regular PCGers are such bumbling idiots that if they were not policed by "loyal" volunteers then the PCG feast sites would be total "disasters."
In fact, the Feast undoubtedly would be a disaster were it not for the
innumerable men and women in God’s Church who voluntarily serve to make
God’s Feast of Tabernacles the best possible every year.
Then Flurry makes an admission about how they u
sed the mailing addresses from WCG when Big Daddy apostatized. It is well known that Furry and some others stole these addresses.
In the PCG’s early days, we were only able to reach a select few—mostly those in the wcg for whom we had addresses. But look at the power and scope of the PCG’s
work today! This Work needs co-workers! On a worldwide scale and at the
local level. Each local congregation and each Feast site needs
co-workers, or volunteers, as well.
Then Flurry makes this announcement that the PCG wants members to send in all the money they can regardless of whether they need it for other important things. Members are not supposed to live beyond their means, but certainly are encourage to GIVE beyond their means!
“We want you to know brethren, about the grace of God which has been
shown in the churches of Macedonia, for in severe test of affliction,
their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have
overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part” (2 Corinthians
8:1-2; Revised Standard Version).
Why such an abundance of joy while yet under “severe test of
affliction”? Verses 3-4: “For they gave according to their means, as I
can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (rsv).
These brethren in Macedonia really wanted to help. They were giving
to the brethren at Jerusalem who were suffering through a drought.
Notice, the Macedonians gave according to their means, and, when the urgent need arose, many gave beyond their means.
Apparently the PCG members have a rich tradition of saying they will do something and then not following through. Stevie does not like that.
Have you ever done that? Volunteered for something and then, as that day
grew closer, hoped people would forget about it? “And this, not as we
expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God” (verse 5; rsv).
Paul was concerned about more than just the material offerings he
thought the Corinthians would give. He was concerned that they hadn’t
fully given themselves to God!
Stevie then goes on to tell his dwindling members that they will once more be sorely tested to see if they are sincere. For some reason the god of Armstrongism is constantly pissed at the members and has to continually "test" them to see who has been qualifying.
In the coming months and years, perhaps even at this year’s Feast of
Tabernacles, you can be sure that God will test us to see whether our
love is genuine—whether our heart is really into serving.
Of course it also matters how you serve:
Ask yourself, does the performance of your service match your desire to serve? Do you give with the attitude of the Macedonians or the attitude of the Corinthians?
“For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a
man hath, and not according to that he hath not” (verse 12). If your
heart is in it, then the service will be acceptable to God, no matter
how small. But no service is acceptable if you do not follow through with what you have committed to.
Its no wonder COG members are burned out. The main tactic of cults is to keep members soooooooooo busy they they have no time to question or research into the darker side of the group.
Then to further lay a guilt trip on his acolytes he has time to invoke Ananias and Sapphira.
An example in Acts illustrates this principle of godly service. “But a
certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and
brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 5:1-2).
Here is a case where Ananias and Sapphira were giving a lot to the apostles. But they kept back part of what they made while professing that they brought the whole amount.
“But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to [margin: to deceive] the Holy [Spirit], and to keep back part of the price of the land?” (verse 3). Sometimes we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are really giving all we have.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). What is our reasonable service? To sacrifice!
To sacrifice means the “surrender of something for the sake of
something else.” In this case, surrendering yourself to better help
someone else.
God is training us for leadership positions, and this is how we train!
Real love for the brethren requires sacrifice:
“Let your love be a real thing” (Romans 12:9; Moffatt). What can we give most of all to this year’s Feast of Tabernacles? How can we best serve? By giving love and compassion.
And what was the greatest example of "outgoing love and concern for others?" HWA's book on sex!
Like any good Armstrongite, sex has to be brought into the equation. The only problem with his quote below is that HWA did not write that book out of "love" for the brethren., It was written because it was a rebuke to Loma because he considered her frigid. He even told this to AC seniors who attended Senior Diners at his house.
Mr. Armstrong wrote in The Missing Dimension in Sex, “Love is an unselfish outgoing concern for the good and welfare of the one loved. Love is primarily on the giving, serving, sharing side of the fence—not on the getting, taking, factional, striving side. It is not selfish …. Love is unselfish. It is not an emotion,
though it may be expressed with an emotional content. True love
combines the rational aspect of outgoing concern—desire to help, serve,
give or share—along with sincere concerned affectionate feeling”
(emphasis added).
That kind of love is a sacrifice. Ask yourself, How much have I really served other people in my Church area and at the feasts? Not just served in a project, but actually served other people.
In Armstrongism, as with other legalistic groups, the amount of God's blessings are proportional to your giving. The more you give, the more you will be blessed.
