From Christian to Christian: Standing Strong

Christianity in the Worldwide Church of God was relatively simple and actually contained in three simple words: Obey Your Minister. Regardless of how many may challenge this supposition, there's really no other way around it. If your minister was your link between you and Christ, of damnation and salvation, of in the Church and Out of the Church, then this statement is truth. The critically thinking individual was not regarded competent enough to understand the mind of Christ like your pastor. Members of the Church were admonished about this time, after time, and after time again, sometimes severely. 

The concepts of Critical Thinking were intentionally not developed within the Church. Any questions you had? Ask the minister. Any doubts you have? Don't discuss it with anyone else - lest you sow division and discord within the Church. Ask a question to the minister like you are supposed to do when you disagree? Find yourself on the bad list - at the least an "unconverted" , to a "bad attitude", to a "rebellious spirit" - and on the shortlist to discipline, up to and including disfellowshipment. More often than not, thoughts, opinions, doubts, and questions by many were pushed way back to File 14 (Not 13 - that's garbage, but 14, the Storage Area!). If you dared share them with anyone in the Church, you ran the risk of a ratter outing you to The Minister - which is worse than if you told him yourself - nearly guaranteeing you being labeled as one "Sowing Division" and risking immediate disfellowshipment for speaking out against Church Doctrine. 

This is why many believers on this blog react so strongly to posts on this blog that foster critical thinking. In the Church, we were not encouraged to use our heads and think. We were not ourselves allowed to "prove all things". We weren't confronted with hard questions - those were for the ministers to handle. We did not converse deeply and with prolonged debate (or were not supposed to anyhow) with those who thought different than we did - whether it was a Mainstream Christian, a Street Hoodlum, a Buddhist, a New Ager, or an atheist. 

Years ago, while in the Worldwide Experience, I would have reacted in the way most probably would have expected. I would have immediately blasted any contrary opinion as - well, lost. You know, shake the dirt off your feet and don't even give a contrary person (derisively labeled a "dissident") the time of day. The biggest and most important function in the Church to keep it together was the appearance and misnomer of what we called "unity", in a religion where reality shows us that we were never truly unified. We were master illusionists. 

These days, in this generation of knowledge, information, history, and science, it's not only good to understand the opinions of other people - it's imperative. The approach we had of "don't look at this, throw it in the trash" these days simply fosters an attitude of ignorance. To understand how another person thinks, we have to understand what they think! And this is exactly what many who are Christians are afraid of. That deep down, they may fall victim to convincing argument and fall into what they perceive as "strong delusion". 

Truth is, every part of every religion - whether it's Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Muslim, or Evangelical Christianity - and yes, even Armstrongism - has a certain level of truth within. This is why all religions have massive numbers - because something clicks with somebody as true, therefore, it all must be true. This isn't so - as nobody has the "lock" on all truth as long as humanity is involved. This is why, in every sect of every religion, you will find literally hundreds and thousands of diverse opinions about how this is so and how that is so. You can be as sincere as you wish - but you can also be "sincerely wrong" - and no one has gotten it completely right. Not Herbert Armstrong, not Charles Stanley, not anyone of mortal flesh. This is why a personal relationship with a personal God is the basis of true and authentic Christianity. 

It shouldn't be scary to acknowledge and to hear other opinions. Rather, we have been given a Counselor, and a Teacher - the Holy Spirit - to help us personally where we are. In prayer, as we connect with the Heavenly Dimension, we can understand - personally. And with Christ in us, and working through us, we can stand and grow in both character and in faith, in the assurance of things unseen, growing daily in the assurances of what we know to be true by Him who works in us, and through us. Without the personal Christ within us, we are only as blades of grass blown by the wind. The danger comes when, in our zeal, we, as Christians, try to convince others of what we know personally to those who try to convince us of what they know academically. We will lose every time with this approach. They will blast us and rip us to shreds using academia against personal experience. This is not the way to go. 

The only thing that Christians have for proof are their fruits. The problem is that with many people who claim to be Christians, the fruits just are not there. Instead, there are the "Judgers" who condemn them. There are the "Angries" who blast them with vitriol. There are the "Pious" - the "I'm better than you's because I know the truth". There are the "Righteous Ones" who look down on anyone who believes differently than they do. And the only thing Christians have going for them - EVIDENCE of Christ - is dust in the wind, and then what is there? Absolutely nothing. 

The evidence of Christ - the only thing that shows who we are - and what we are - are the fruits of the Spirit. Gentleness. Love. Mercy. Self Control. Patience. Kindness. Meekness. Joy. This evidence is the only thing that is needed, and the only answer. It is the mind and the emotion of God in action. And as it is said in the Love Chapter - and in a song we all knew or know - we can talk in megaphones, as sounding brass and banging cymbals - but if we do not show genuine love in our actions, conversations and discussions with people of all belief spectrums - than our beliefs and our faith is as useless as bronze age encyclopedias. Because all of the knowledge in the world, and all of the knowledge of our universe, and science, and realms, and realities, and angels, and demons, and animals - and even, as scripture says, height and depth and all things physical - cannot compare to the power of one act of love and kindness. This - love and kindness - is more powerful than all of the knowledge in all of the internet. 

At the end of the day, The only thing that matters is exactly what scripture says - faith expressing itself in love. (Galatians 5:6)  It's the most powerful force and witness in the Universe. Everything else withers, but love stands strong. This is why, and how, we can make it and show Christ in this age of incredible knowledge and understanding. Because there is an abundance of truth in today's knowledge. Yet, there is unbelievable power in love. And that is the narrow road to the narrow gate that is often missed, and few are those who find it.

Submitted by SHT

Fake COG Prophet Claims The Book Of Daniel Has Never Been Understood Until He Arrived On The Scene

What an amazing time to be alive and see prophecy unfold before our eyes!  Never have we seen so many men claiming to have the most ACCURATE interpretations about scripture than we do today.

Our favorite self-appointed and doubly-blessed Great Bwana to Africa, Bob Thiel, claims that he is the ONLY COG in existence who has interpreted the book of Daniel properly.  Because of that, all of the COG's out there will NOT know when the end time troubles hit and when they need to flee.  Only Bwana Bob knows that.  Those stupid little fools in LCG, UCG, COGWA, PCG, and RCG have interpreted Daniel so wrong over the decades that they will have no idea when the shit hits the fan.

Persecution is coming and most in the COGs do not realize how the various persecutions will affect them. 

Those who do understand this properly will have the opportunity to know prior to the start of the Great Tribulation, approximately when it will begin. Those that claim that the “prince to come” in Daniel 9:26 is Jesus and that Jesus is the one that confirms a covenant with many for one week, etc., will not understand as that statement is not a reference to Jesus. The “prince to come” is the final European King of the North. He is the one in Daniel 11:31 who fulfills bringing the end of the sacrifice and offerings 3 1/2 years (the middle of a seven year prophetic week) after the deal is confirmed. Jesus did not destroy the city nor sanctuary, nor is there a biblical record that He confirmed a seven-year covenant.

Because all of you Laodicean heretics refuse to follow Bwana Bob you MAY be given one more chance to stand in awe of his awesomeness.

Those who refuse to accept that are in error (such as the Philadelphia Church of God, Church of God a Worldwide Association, and the Restored Church of God) and will not understand certain end time events.

Nearly all COG groups either do not understand this and/or have significant errors in their understanding of parts of this (including the persecution it is referring to). Prophetic misunderstandings that many COG claimed groups have on some of this is documented in the article Is the Future King of the South Rising Up?

Yet many, including those in nearly all COGs, will NOT understand key aspects of Daniel 2,7,9,11, & 12. There is a listing of 38 prophetic misunderstandings that the Laodicean churches have in the article The Laodicean Church Era, and many are related to the Book of Daniel. Those who misunderstand the sequence and various particulars of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel will not know when the Great Tribulation will come and hence will likely be killed or otherwise greatly affected by it.

Who in their right mind would ever follow such a sad little man as this?  He has no idea what he is talking about and is lying about that things he claims are coming.  From his initial lies about his special anointing to the absurd prophecy interpretations, this guy is absolutely nuts!

Please Keep Your Good News Magazines Out Of Sight!

At our house, all Good News Magazines and other sensitive Church literature were kept in a box in my parent's bedroom closet. I made the mistake of leaving one on the kitchen table and got a sound spanking for it.  

Protect that Magazine at all cost but tactfully.

"Should You Welcome Visitors at Church?"

"...First of all, it is better if you do nothing to advertise the fact that you keep God's Sabbath. I do not mean that you should ever deny it. But, for example, if you women make Sunday your wash day and hang out clothes for neighbors to see—or, if you men do work around the house on Sunday, mowing the lawn, or pounding nails or sawing or something that makes noise. Whether this really causes your neighbors any discomfort or not, some of them may claim you are annoying them --creating a NUISANCE on their Sunday. That only shouts loudly at them that you are a hated "Sabbath-keeper." "

"You who meet a visitor at church service, just be friendly, smile, but do not start a conversation about the sermon, about religion, or about the Bible."

"Never do this!!! To the one who does this, let me say candidly, this is one strong reason why YOU are not the minister! It is the minister's place to do any explaining. He has been trained to know how. God has called him, and therefore the Holy Spirit leads and guides him. DON'T TRY TO MAKE YOURSELF THE MINISTER, or the minister may rebuke you very strongly!"

"If the visitor asks about such things, call the minister or assistant or a deacon at once, with a smile, introduce him and mention the question—then let him take over, and excuse yourself to go meet and shake hands with others. And when introduced to—or introducing yourself to—a visitor, NEVER—and I mean NEVER take it on yourself to either say "Don't you ever come again!"—or, the opposite extreme, "I want to invite you to come again.""

"REMEMBER—it is not your place—but the minister's—to invite visitors either to come again, or to forbid them to come. Don't try to be a self-appointed minister when God has never called you! God may deal with you through the minister, if you do!"

"Try to prevent non-members from seeing, or knowing about, The Good News. But NEVER do as one member untactfully did. This woman had read in The Good News that this paper is for Church members ONLY. The paper was left out in plain sight in her living room. A neighbor picked it up, started reading it. She grabbed the copy out of her neighbor's hand, saying—"Oh, we've been told not to let outsiders read this. You're not converted. You're not allowed to read this." Naturally the friend was insulted, offended, and decided she didn't want any of OUR religion!

If a non-member accidentally does see a copy of this paper, DON'T offend by telling them non-members are not allowed to read it. It is then too late for that. Let them go on reading it, but if they want on the list, tell them they can write and ask, but it is just our own Church paper for members, and not generally sent to non-members. But NEVER cause offense. Better just keep it out of sight in the first place...."

Source: Good News Magazine September, 1962

submitted by Mogen David