Church of God Pastor/Coordinator "GENERALS" and "ADMIRALS" vs The Good Shepherd

Ever wonder why the Church of God had to have a Pastor GENERAL?  That name has always grated on the minds of many COG members.  That title has also set up abusive men who treat their members like chattel.  Just look at Gerald Flurry, Rod Meredith, Wade Cox and Dave Pack.  Facebook pages are filed with hundreds of people telling their stories about these men and how they have ruined families, marriages and lives by being GENERALS. Its everything from Coordinator GENERAL, Pastor GENERAL, to ADMIRAL.

The Living Church of God calls the leaders of their churches "ADMIRALS" of their own "SHIPS":

As a Pastor, you are in a sense the “captain” of your “ship”, or your congregation.  Christ is the Admiral, following the analogy, directing the overall fleet of congregations through His flagship, Headquarters.  He sets the pace and shows how a Pastor should lead his flock with servant leadership.  What direction is your ship going?  Is it heading in the right direction?  Is it following the direction of the flagship?  Or is it veering off in the opposite direction?  Is it going in circles, or even backwards?   

Are the passengers on your ship generally happy?  Are they growing?  Is there a positive, friendly, and peaceful atmosphere?  What kind of atmosphere do you want to facilitate in your congregation?  LCG Pastoral Manual pg. 2-4

Contrast that to the Good Shepherd from John:

John 10:1-18 The Message (MSG)

He Calls His Sheep by Name

10 ^1-5 “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”

^6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

^11-13 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him.

^14-18 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd.

The story continues with the following that aptly describes ever single Church of God to this day.  They have been ripped asunder and split into over 700 different groups all because "GENERALS" are lording themselves over the members instead of following the Good Shepherd.  You can't run a COG army with a bunch of compliant sheep.  Though it appears these "GENERALS" cannot run their armies as they thought.  Every COG out there is in decline.

^19-21 This kind of talk caused another split in the Jewish ranks. A lot of them were saying, “He’s crazy, a maniac—out of his head completely. Why bother listening to him?” But others weren’t so sure: “These aren’t the words of a crazy man. Can a ‘maniac’ open blind eyes?”

Will the Church of God "maniac's" ever open their eyes?

The Good Shepherd waits patiently at the late for the weary sheep.

Does Servant Leadership Exist in the Living Church of God?

Naked Pastor

Here is a quote from Rod McNair's Pastors Manual where he is talking about "servant leadership."

Since when has "servant leadership" been the "hallmark" of the Living Church of God?  When has it ever been the "hallmark" of ANY of the 700 some Church of God splinter groups over the last 80 some years?

When has Rod Meredith ever got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up a mess in church, helped sit out chairs and hymnals, or cooked for a social or potluck meal on a Holy Day?  When has he ever used his own money to take care of the homeless and childless?  When has he ever cared for his neighbors that are nonCOG members?

When has he ever not been sitting in the chair of "worshipfulness" status?

When has any of the LCG elite ever done this?  When has the ministry ever got down on their knees and washed the feet of the lowly members?

Servant leadership should be the hallmark of our ministry.  If we are not servants, we are not fulfilling our calling.  If we are not leaders, we are not fulfilling our duty.  We are preparing to become kings and/or priests in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 1:6; 5:10).  We should be teaching and leading the members of the body of Christ to become rulers and teachers of God’s way.  Servant leadership has been emphasized by the Presiding Evangelist, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith, since the beginning of the Global Church of God in 1993, and remains the operational keyword of the ministry today.  

Epic Failure: Living Church of God Claims That Its Leaders "...Must Be Self-Controlled—Not Quick To Get Angry "

We have all witnessed over the last few years the deep seated anger that Rod Meredith has towards certain members of his church.  This anger is so deep that entire families have been disfellowshipped and publicly marked from the pulpit.  In his decades in the Worldwide Church of God that anger was manifested over and over in his actions towards ministers he was over and to the membership.

We saw that anger again as he bad mouthed the WCG as he was starting up his own church, the Global Church of God.  We then witnesses his anger towards Raymond McNair and others in Global as he rebelled against them and apostatizing to form yet another group.  That anger also led to him taking all of Global's money with him an essentially bankrupting Global.  That in turn sent Raymond and Eve McNair to get on their knees in front of Meredith begging his forgiveness "with trembling lips."

That anger was also manifested a couple of weeks ago when Meredith stood up and kicked out the remaining Scarborough's from LCG - and - warned his members to NOT read this blog.

An LCG member sent me this today from the Pastor's Manual for LCG.

Apparently Meredith and Rod McNair have not paid too much attention to this section of the manual as they continue to lash out at members and employees seeking to find out who is leaking information.

Pastoral Manual         
Chapter 1: Pastoral Ethics  Being Qualified pg 1-5                                                                                                                                                   
A Pastor Must Be Self-Controlled—Not Quick To Get Angry 

“…A bishop then must be… not violent…but gentle, not quarrelsome…” (1 Timothy 3:2-3) 

Pastors sometimes have to deal with frustrating and exasperating situations.  A Pastor must have the character—and LOVE for others—to control his own spirit, even in the midst of difficult situations, and even with people who are irrational or belligerent.  In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he said: 

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”  

When a problem arises, imagine that you are arriving at the scene of a fire.  The fire is the problem you are facing.  Imagine that you have two buckets in your hands—one is filled with water, and the other is filled with gasoline.  Which one you use upon arriving at the scene has a lot to do with the outcome of the situation.  Can you defuse the situation by using a calm but firm hand?  Or do you react with anger in kind, further exacerbating an already bad situation? 

A Pastor must exhibit emotional control to successfully function in his capacity.  He must be able to bear insult without retaliation.  Jesus set that example.  He did not lash out or take revenge on those who ridiculed Him.  As Peter wrote: 

1 Peter 2:21-25  “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth’;  who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.  For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 

This does not mean that a Pastor must not defend the members or the office of the ministry or must not occasionally act with decisive action.  But he must keep his own personal feelings out of it, as much as possible, with God’s help.  He must not fall into a “siege mentality” where he begins to see everyone as either for him or against him.  He must strive to minimize controversy and polarization wherever possible.  He must deal squarely and decisively on the facts, based on sound biblical principles, with all due patience and long-suffering and without personal antagonism or anger. 

This takes careful self-examination of motives and intentions.  It takes deep reflection to examine one’s own personal motives—and the humility to admit to oneself when one is acting on pride Proverbs 16:32 “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” 

Proverbs 14:29 “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.”  

Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”