Going Political In Church of God International

I received an email today and a link to Bill Watson's latest sermon on the Church of God International site.  CGI likes to pride its self in how different it is from Mark Armstrong's Intercontinental Church of God.

It is like it is ripped right out of the WND news rag and Breitbart.  For some reason, several of the COG's think everything that is on the WND site is 100% accurate.  It is not much different that Almost arrested, but not arrested Bob Thiel's rantings.  The world is going to hell and its only hope is following the COGI.

Many are wondering just what is going on with all the political drama. It seems the mainstream media (MSM) isn’t reporting hardly any of it unless it contains some kind of sexual misconduct or salacious event that often does nothing but distract from the real issues of interest and concern.

Also, one can’t help but wonder why the FBI continues to investigate Russian collusion with the present administration for over a year now with no actual or substantive proof, yet Uranium One, an unverified dossier paid for by the opposition party with Russian connections, and a pay-for-play money trail leading to the Clinton Foundation, goes unreported by the MSM and is not investigated by the law enforcement agencies. What’s wrong with this picture? What are we missing?

NPR All Things Considered January 29, 2018

For Heaven's Gate Podcast Host, Cult Tragedy Hits Close to Home

Twenty years ago, in 1997, a bizarre story hit the national news: Thirty-nine people had killed themselves by drinking poison in a mansion near San Diego. All 39 were dressed identically and had the same haircuts — and they were all members of the Heaven's Gate cult.

In their videotaped farewell messages, they insisted their suicides were not a final death; they were simply shedding their earthly bodies in order to meet a UFO they believed was trailing the Hale-Bopp comet — a UFO that would transport them to the kingdom of heaven.

Their story had a powerful impact on Glynn Washington, host of WNYC's Snap Judgment. "I couldn't stop watching," he says. "I was staring ... because it, in a lot of ways, it felt like that was something that my group could have done."

When Washington was growing up in Michigan in the 1970s and '80s, his family belonged to a different apocalyptic faith organization called the Worldwide Church of God. Washington recognized a lot of what he saw in that 1997 news story, and now he brings that recognition to Heaven's Gate, his 10-episode podcast about the cult and its members.

.......Continue

https://www.npr.org/2018/01/29/581532036/for-heaven-s-gate-podcast-host-the-cult-story-hits-close-to-home

And to be continued:

Gerald Weston Gets Down on Depravity, Moral Degradation and Lampooning

There is one thing that the Church of God has always been good at and that is finding something wrong about everything.  The world is going to hell as depravity takes over. Everything is soooooo evil that the church almost demands that WWIII happened and burn to a crisp all of the evil people outside the church.

Rarely, if ever, do you see any of the splinter groups celebrate the beauty in the world, the goodness and kindness that flow though human beings, and all of the other amazing and delightful things to celebrate.

The eyes of the church have been so focused on vengeance, thanks to adhering only to the law, that they totally miss out on the beauty and delightful things that happen when grace and mercy are given precedence.

That is why every single letter that the Living Church of God sends out is always filled with consistent depressing news or referencing some major trauma or catastrophe.

The need for many people to have a mighty warrior god ready to strike down all adversaries and depraved people is strong in the church.  So many members feel act like they are wounded martyrs for the truth and they want to see those not following the enlightened way get punished. They have had to suffer for the truth and they are not too happy.

The only breath of grace, at times, has been Doug Winnail who seems to find goodness in people.  But if you have been paying attention to LCG's website, Winnail has been conspicuously absent in posting since before the Feast.  Ever since Hermann Goering, Rod McNair was brought back to Charlotte, grace and mercy are seldom found.

I think we all know that our world is in trouble. Stock markets around the world may be up for the time being, people in some countries may have full wallets and purses, but this does not indicate all is well. Precious few people are alive today who remember the “Roaring ’20s” of the last century, but we might do well to remember that those days were followed by the Great Depression and World War II. 

We are living in a world filled with conflicts, moral degradation, and in our Western World, a lack of awareness of God. God is lampooned at every turn, and those who stand up for morality and godly values are equally despised and put down. Where this is leading, is not good! God will not put up with this depravity forever! “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:7-10). 

Dear brethren and co-workers, let us work while it is day, for “the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). Jesus referred to His own Work, but if He is living within us, it must surely be a message for us to take to heart. The Work He refers to is “the works of Him who sent Me….” God calls us to do a Work. It is difficult to see in every detail how events will play out, but free speech is under assault, and there is this sobering prediction: “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it’” (Amos 8:11-12). Is this a warning for us? 

Let us work the Work of God while we have time. And thank you for your prayers and generous support. I look forward to that day when we will stand together before the throne of God and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servants!” May that day come quickly! 

Sincerely, in Christ’s service,

Gerald E. Weston