Saturday, January 6, 2018

PCG Wants Members to Know They Have "Sick Trusting Minds"


Here is how the Philadelphia Church of "god" wants its members to look at themselves as:
“Note carefully: our human minds are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,” Gerald Flurry wrote. “We cannot trust our thinking. That is eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan’s nature permeates human intellect and human reasoning. We cannot trust our own minds” (From the Beginning). 
The heart is incurably sick—and only God really recognizes that! Only God’s Spirit can expose human nature. You have to pray to see yourself as God sees you—not as your human heart wants to see itself. 
We should never trust our own minds, but so often we do. And what happens? We become cursed (verse 5). Trusting sick human minds is what has made our whole world such a sick place! 
Don’t trust yourself! Don’t try to run your life your own way. Don’t trust your incredibly deceitful mind that is terminally ill—or you will be cursed!
Contrast that to what those who follow Jesus are referred to:
Colossians 3:12-17     
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 
Since the Philadelphia Church of God follows Moses, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, David, and all the other "heroes' of the Old Testament, they are at a total loss when it comes to Jesus.  Here are some other qualities that believers have that PCG members do not have:
1. Loving
You love your enemies, your neighbors, your family, and your friends. You aren’t afraid to love when others are withholding it. (1 John 4:8)
2. Forgiving
Grace is an inevitable quality of any Christ follower. While the rest of the world may show resentment and hold grudges, a legit Christian will always show grace and forgiveness. (Ephesians 4:32)
3. Selfless
You don’t think of yourself before others. In fact, you do the complete opposite. Your spirit is wired to put others before your own needs, wants and desires. Why? Because Jesus himself did the same thing. (Philippians 2:4)
4. Servanthood
You give and serve out of the abundance of your heart. Not only is your heart passionate about serving others, but its sole purpose is to serve others as Christ came to serve us. (Psalm 37:21)
5. Humility
Pride comes before the fall. If you don’t remember, pride itself is what sent satan to his lonely exile. Humility showcases a posture that is open to being molded, directed, and empowered by the Spirit of God. There is no such thing as a prideful example of Jesus. Why? Because pride isn’t an attribute that Jesus practices. (Matthew 23:12)
6. Driven
You don’t sit at home and bask in your own mess. Instead, your are a driven and goal-minded individual who seeks after the will of God. Your driven heart keeps you focused on God’s promises, his will, and his grace. (Proverbs 10:4)
7. Passion
You are passionate about Jesus, sharing the promises of God, and showcasing the living and breathing image of love. Settling for mediocrity is not something you’re willing to do. Your passion and zeal for the Lord takes you deeper into the character of God himself. (Colossians 3:23)
8. Compassion
Compassion is like a second language to any legit Christian. You bear the burdens of others, feel their pain, and do whatever you can to comfort those going through a tough time. (Galatians 6:2)
9. Patience
Patience is a true virtue of any true Christ follower. It’s easy to make quick decisions, but those who are truly grounded in the Word of God are prone to slowing down, seeking Godly wisdom, and pursuing the guidance of Christ. (Philippians 4:6)
10. Control
Self-control brings security and maturity to anyone’s life. And while some may see control as a flaw, Jesus views control and organization as a beautiful thing to practice when in a relationship with him. (Proverbs 25:28)
11. Kindness. 
If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. Kindness is a beautiful attribute of any legit Christian. Not only does kindness showcase a vibrant reflection of Christ, but it also allows you to personally reflect an image of his being. (Proverbs 11:17)
12. Joy
Life is too short to be spent in sorrow. As Christians, we are called to rejoice in all things. No matter what you are going through in life, choosing joy will always be the way of a legit Christian. (Philippians 4:4)
13. Peace
Don’t look to stir up controversy, dissension, or even strife. Seek to be a peacemaker in all things. While the rest of the world looks to make their point, seek to bring peace through the love and grace of Christ. (Romans 12:18
-Jarrid Wilson   13 Qualities of a Legit Christian
The church has always held members to the standard of being worthless worms, devoid of any redeeming qualities whatsoever.  Church members have never been considered good enough for a loving God to love unconditionally.  The more members are beat down, the more submissive they will be.  Just take a look at almost every single letter HWA wrote to the membership.  Church members were constantly at fault for something. Don't ever dare use your mind to actually think, to do so lets Satan gain control.

Because PCG chooses not to follow Jesus and instead places their allegiance upon OT hero's, it stands to reason that they need to tell their members that they have incurably sick human minds.  Just look at their leaders!


Friday, January 5, 2018

UCG: Are the fields no longer white for harvest?



UPDATED:  Video is back online:






Several United Church of God members sent me links to the sermon preached at their Christmas Winter Family Weekend.  The title of the sermon was "The fields are ripe for harvest."  The church has always taken this as the reason to preach the "gospel" because people were desperate to hear the "truth" that the church imagined they were proclaiming. In addition to witnessing the world the "true" message, they were also gaining new tithe-paying members.  The more members, the more money available to do the "final push" in getting our the message of the kingdom.

UCG imagines itself as that purveyor of truth to a lost and desperately searching world.  One of the reasons for the yearly Christmas Family Weekend is that it is a witness to the heathen Christmas observing pagans who worship Nimrod in the highly decorated hotel that holds their party weekend in.

When the various UCG members sent the link, it was available to the world to see as a witness to the "truth."  One would think that the sermons of God's true ministers would be worthy for the world to hear, but no. UCG has restricted the access to the sermon.

The UCG members who have sent this link have all mentioned how the sermon was further proof that UCG was changing many of its current teachings to become more "palatable" to the general public.  That was one of the big complaints when COGWA split off to start their own group.  They felt the UCG big boys were systematically changing doctrines in order to become more mainstream, much like their previous organization had done.

Thought you might find this interesting! Here is absolute proof the UCG is going mainstream evangelical in order to attract new members. Bible Study given at their Winter Family Weekend. COGWA said this would happen and used it as a reason for their split.
Apparently, the fields are no longer ripe, or they just don't care.  Or, the cat got let out of the bag and they are struggling to get it back in.  Time will tell what actually UCG is up to.  Just as many of them lied when they worked for WCG while denying that changes were coming, they are doing the same thing now.  Can they really be trusted to tell the truth any more?


SaveSave

Reasons vs. Excuses

The Bear (The Big Dipper)

Recently I posted a bit more on, w my perspectives on the Astro-theological nature of many of the stories and prophecies in the Bible. Astro-theology is based on the concept of "as above, so below" where over time humans have seen the story they need to see and tell in the movement of the constellations thru the signs of the zodiac and along the ecliptic from season to season. I mostly do this to give a different perspective to all our background in the Bible as understood by the Churches of God and most others.   Most cultures have done this over thousands of years and the writers of the Old Testament and New, in particular the Book of Revelation were no exceptions. 

As I have said before, the night sky was the Netflix of the times.  It's where you got your stories and brought them down to earth to explain life and "all that up there" to yourself.  Job was challenged that if he was so smart could he do or know the following

Job 38:31-33

"Can you direct the movement of the stars--binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?
(we know today what binds this and Orion is not held by cords.)

Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear (The Big Dipper)  with its cubs?
(We know they bring forth themselves because the earth rotates which gives the impression of movement in the heavens when it is we who are moving)

Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?
(We're getting there nicely)

We also know where snow , hail and rain come from and how they form. Contrary to Bob Thiel's archaic view that weather is still "God's way of trying to get our attention."  To which I have always said, "God has to try?"

Job 9:9

Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.


Orion with Shield and Flaming Sword held high

(There are no chambers in the South. Only locations.  Arcturus, also called Alpha Boötis, one of the five brightest stars in the night sky, and the brightest star in the northern constellation Boötes, with an apparent visual magnitude of −0.05. It is an orange-coloured giant star 36.7 light-years from Earth. The Pleiades is visible star cluster and Orion is a Constellation of the Winter sky. Orion is probably also the Angel placed in the East with a flaming sword to keep Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden but I spare you. It never occurred to them evidently to sneak back from the North, South or West. Orion rises in the East.

The fact is that today all the challenges of the Book of Job, by God to Job are pretty well understood.  Today we'd have to challenge Job that if he was so smart, did he understand quarks, muons , the Cosmic Background Radiation and the double split experiment.  And aside from the average person who could care less, we do understand these things as well.

I was very sincerely sent a long paper on how the heavens DO explain the entire plan of God through the movement of the Sun and constellations through the Zodiac (Ecliptic) tell the story of our salvation and it was God who put it there for us to understand.  In my view, it was man who evinced the story of his salvation and theology by imagining what he thought he saw in the constellations , seasons and journey of the sun through the year with the light and dark cycles as well as times to plant and reap.

I know it is hard to accept, and can be argued until proverbial cows come home,  but the SUN is the original God Most High (Noon) in human history. It is the SUN that is born on Christmas day.  It is the Sun that takes away the darkness (sins) of the world at "Easter", when it comes up due East and the days are now longer than the nights at the Equinox (equal days/nights). Even the Pass-over over is when the SUN passes over this line in the seasons. 

I only include this final exchange to illustrate the conclusion of this exchange.

There are vast differences between REASONS and EXCUSES
In religion apologetics are the excuses of theology. It is when you simply can't admit to being mistaken about something Biblical and must keep it so to keep one's beliefs, which are not the same as truths, intact. IMHO

2000 years ago reasons given outside of Biblical perspectives were considered excuses to rebel against God as understood in that day.  With increased knowledge of how things actually are, excuses must yield to reasons to think outside the boxes of the past.  Just as 2000 years ago, those who asked "where is the promise of his coming" were called scoffers who would get theirs in time, so today we'd simply see they were noticing the obvious.  No one who notices Jesus has not returned "soon" after 2000 years cannot be called a scoffer. They are simply noticing what is evidently and obviously so. 

So it is with where many of our theological concepts and stories come from in reality.

On 12/23/2017 12:19 PM, denniscdiehl@aol.com wrote:
I am a great believer in the astro theological nature of many bible tales. I just don't believe the origin is God putting his plan in the constellations.
--------------------------------------- 

Dennis,

"If that is your belief, then please tell me what was God's intention for creating the heavens and universe? There MUST be a reason, for God does nothing without a purpose in mind."
-------------------------------


On 01/03/2018 12:07 PM, denniscdiehl@aol.com wrote:

"Actually we humans come up with the concept of "there must be a reason" etc. The fact is the universe and our evolution from ape ancestors to conscious of our mortality does not care and we are not special in it any more than earth is special will billions of them out there just being discovered. 
I don't believe in the existence of the bible God. That is a literary and human construct to help us cope . I don't believe it took a god to bring the universe, which may also be just one of billions to pass. It's a huge topic but I go with science on this stuff"

                                                                           
                                              Dennis,

"I'm sorry, but I didn't realize you were an atheist. Based on your website, I always thought you were part of the COG. With that in mind, I won't bother you any more. I have no desire or time to converse with anyone who doesn't believe in a Creator God.

Romans 1:19-20
19 What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them.
20 From the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. (GWN)

Dennis, you have NO excuse."


Exactly!  they are reasons......