Just As I Am

submitted by SHT

Ambassador College Correspondance Course LSN 24 1961 

You Are Too Evil and Vile To Sit With Jesus As You Are.

Where would the Church of God be without everyone being told they were evil, vile and dirty?  There was always some qualification being placed upon people in the church who sought Jesus. The more zealous you were the better because that ensured Jesus Christ just might grant you salvation.  This concept sure gets the tassels on the legalistic knickers of the Malmites and Thielites all knotted up.

COG App for Android and IOS Needed

It is getting so confusing in the COGworld not knowing who is with which group or who is still keeping "kosher" that we become overly cautious so we don't get caught saying something we shouldn't.  We need someone to develop an app for us all to have on our phone so it can alert us.

LCG: Income Audit Says Income Is Down 7%

LCG released its latest audit. Income is down approximately 7%. The excuse provided is that in 2016 there was some extraordinary income not repeated in 2017.

The fact that the COG is rapidly aging received a rare public acknowledgement. 

"Demographics continued to play a significant role in the Church’s finances in 2017, with many of our older members moving into retirement." 

But don't worry there are "...a growing number of young families and new attendees... in the United States" according to the news release. As with most such statements no details are provided.

The reality is LCG increasingly resembles a Sardis type church as does the rest of the COG (Revelation 3:2) and is sadly about to implode.

submitted by Aristophanes

Living Church of God Audit

D. Jerry Ruddlesden and Dexter B. Wakefield 

The Living Church of God continues to carefully manage the financial resources that God provides through our members and coworkers. For the year 2017, regular income was flat, but total income declined from that of 2016 due to some extraordinary income items that occurred in 2016 but were not repeated in 2017. Expenses were adjusted accordingly, so that net income and expenses were approximately equal for the year.

Demographics continued to play a significant role in the Church’s finances in 2017, with many of our older members moving into retirement. However, we were very pleased to see a growing number of young families and new attendees adding to the attendance of our local churches in the United States. The international Work continues to grow, especially in Central and South America. 

The Church continues to evaluate and cut underperforming programs and media outlets in order to replace them with new opportunities to preach the Gospel. 

As in previous years, the Church allocates the bulk of its resources to preaching the Gospel (38 percent) and feeding the flock (55 percent). Administrative costs were kept at a very low seven percent of expenditures. 

The Church entered 2018 on a good financial footing and looks forward to a successful year for God’s Work. As in previous years, the Church was audited by the accounting firm, Cherry Bekaert, and the full 2017 audited statement (with notes) is available at www.lcg.org. To read it, click on About Us, then on Living Church of God: 2017 Consolidated Financial Statements.