Uncomfortable Religious Realities: Daring to Notice What Most Keep To Themselves

The most funny humor tends to be that which is unmentionable but  strikes us as true nonetheless

"I want you to know, when it comes to believing in God - I really tried. I really really tried. I tried to believe that there is a god who created each one of us in his own image and likeness, loves us very much and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize...something is F--KED UP. Something is WRONG here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is NOT good work. If this is the best god can do, I am NOT impressed. Results like these do not belong on the resume of a supreme being. This is the kind of shit you'd expect from an office temp with a bad attitude. And just between you and me, in any decently run universe, this guy would have been out on his all-powerful-ass a long time ago."

George Carlin

….But He loves You!

If the open observations of those who say what many only think about the way religion seems to actually work in real time or the beliefs that seem incoherent and insane, then I suppose, as believers, you'll just have to forgive them.

Or perhaps a more measured response to religion is in order.

Rod McNair: Put On Your Happy Face!

Is Living Church of God currently having an issue with unhappy and depressed people in its midst? How can anyone be unhappy when the law is crammed down your throat by this narcissistic man? How could anyone be unhappy when they are told their elderly parents and grandparents, who might be in a nursing home, are demon-possessed?  How can anyone working in a retirement/care facility be unhappy to be told that they are working around demons and that they need to quit their job? Seriously, why would that make anyone in LCG unhappy?

McNair writes:

God wants us to be happy. Jesus Christ emphasized that in John 10:10: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” He wants us to inherit eternal life, but He also wants us to find joy in the process of getting there! When Jesus said this, He was echoing what He had inspired Solomon to write almost a thousand years earlier: “I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:12–13).

If one truly is a follower of Jesus and understands what was accomplished, that person knows that the "process of getting there" has already been accomplished.  That is why the burden has been lifted and people can rest.

How can every man (and woman) "eat, drink and enjoy the good of one's labor" when 30-40% or more of one's fruit of that labor is required of the church to keep its leadership in their comfortable lifestyles? Its certainly not going to some massive gospel outreach to the world. Is it?

If we are chronically unhappy, we may need to meditate on and tap more deeply into what God is doing in our lives and submit ourselves to Him in every possible way. We must decide that we want to think differently. As former American President Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Chronically unhappy people really need to seek proper help from trained and licensed therapists or a doctor for a potential chemical imbalance in their body and not sit around gazing at their navel for something magical to happen.  Going directly to a minister who has had ZERO training in proper counseling techniques may further exacerbate the problem.

A person can be richly blessed with all kinds of wonderful things and experiences in life and still be unhappy or depressed.  When one hears sermon after sermon on how they are never are measuring up to the high standards that the church claims its god has set, what happens to a person when they don't meet those standards?  Many of the expectations that LCG demands of their members are soul-destroying.

It is God’s desire for us to enjoy life. It is His will that we see life as a gift, an adventure, and a challenge we can brave with His help. With His help, we can optimistically choose to face life as an opportunity for learning and growth, even in the midst of troubles.

While this may sound wonderful and a point one strives for, it also sets up a false expectation for members.  They have to put on a "happy face" all the time when they are around other church members.  God forbid if anyone was ever depressed in front of others.  Setting those lofty standards, and I am not saying they are bad, sets the expectation that people are doing something wrong anytime they are not happy.

McNair then goes on to give an example of how to be happy...end consumerism.

Frankly, our whole modern economy is built to encourage us to consume. And our consumption—buying new items and discarding the old—keeps the economy going. So, in a very literal sense, we have come to the point where many leaders of industry, business, and government only see ordinary citizens as cogs in the wheel that keep the cycle of production and consumption going. Why else would we be widely encouraged by the “system” around us to spend rather than save?

If we are not careful, we can begin to view our lives largely in terms of being a consumer, because consumption is what we spend so much of our time and focus on! But life is so much more than just becoming an expert at comparing products and relishing a good purchase.

While this is all well and good, in the Church of God movement this concept carries a LOT of baggage attached to it.

How many sermons, member letters, emergency appeal letters, and magazine articles have we read about lowering our standard of living because the end times were here?  The church needed more money for that final Gospel push or, as it usually went down, Satan was attacking the church and income had dropped. Then, we find out later, church apostles and leaders were doubling down on the money they were spending to fund their lifestyles, remodel their homes, buy fine art, or remodel their offices at HQ?

Let’s make sure consumption does not become an obsession in our lives. Instead, let’s use the blessings that God has given us to serve Him and serve each other. Otherwise, our work will be nothing more than a futile “grasping after wind.”

How many have ever seen Rod McNair financially help others?  When has he ever served the regular members of the congregation?  Has he ever mowed a widows lawn? Taken the child of a single parent to school? Driven a demon-possessed elderly person to the doctor chiropractor? Don't count on it.  He is waited on, hand and foot, by subservient staff at HQ who do his every whim. After all, he needs all of those servants so he can have time to write his amazing sermons!

Life wasn’t created to be meaningless. We weren’t made to be unhappy. We weren’t made for the sum total of our life to be merely 70 years of consumption. God created us to relate to Him, walk with Him, talk with Him, and—at the end of physical life—to step into an eternal relationship with Him upon our resurrection and glorification.

Yes, this life is temporary. The flesh truly is vanity, meaning “here today and gone tomorrow.” But there is a big purpose for each day we draw breath. Let’s view every day as a gift to be cherished and valued. Let’s impart that mindset to our children, so they know how important they are to God. He loves them and wants them to be happy. And let’s make sure we are using this temporary life to prepare for our awesome, eternal future with God.

I can truthfully say that I have seen more vain men in leadership positions in "God's church" than I have ever seen in a  people out here in Satan's world. The Church of God was a breeding ground for vainglorious men who are narcissistic and caustic in their leadership roles.  They have weighed down the brethren with so many idiotic rules and regulations that members are bound to be unhappy and miserable. And they are!  Only until they leave these spiritual abusers will they ever find happiness.


See: All Is Vanity...Or Is It?

Was and Is Armstrongism "The Truth"?

A Commentator on my recent post on dreams has attempted to interpret a recent dream I shared on this blog. 

The Commentator, a disfellowshipped long-time member, stated:

Your dream might be interpreted as follows: The tall man is the angel of the Lord who accompanies you into the church. Pack is the foolish minister who gets distracted by the broken dishes, meaning he isn't focussed on the gospel. The gullible members represent those members who always side with the minister even when he is wrong. Meanwhile your attempt to leave the church on your own doesn't leave you guiltless because you failed to solve the angel's puzzle at the exit, that is you didn't leave over a point of truth but over a triviality for which you must answer to Jesus Christ, the "appointed Judge of the church", as you wrote. Disagreeing with Him proves your disobedience to the law. Thus your attempt to run from judgment for your sins will dog you the rest of your life until you repent, along with the rest of your rebellious unbelieving, blaspheming, double-minded, mocking and malicious posters and filthy communicators. That is why your dream ends with you still running. As for those who were trying to stop you, those are the witnesses (friends, relatives, members, angels) who will testify against you forleaving the truth. (Emphasis mine.) 

Wow. What an unbelievably judgemental post here. Let me state here first, and foremost, something resolutely simple here: The Worldwide Church of God - And Armstrongism - was NOT the truth. Period. That very fact invalidates the well thought out attempt of proving one's "prophet-hood" by attempting to interpret a dream. 

What about the Worldwide Church of God and Armstrongism is not the truth? Well, a few examples:

1. Jesus ALONE is the Way, the Truth, and the life. Nothing and no one else. Claiming I have left the truth is claiming I have left Jesus Christ. This is absolutely and unequivocally false. A Corporation cannot be all truth, but can have some truth. In reality, "The truth" is cult-speak for agreement to one's preconceived ideas and notions about a particular denominational dogma. You - whoever you are - have judged a judgment that only God himself can determine - whether or not I am of the Lord or am not. This is not for any human to decide, and never has been. 

2. Prophecy and speculation. Herbert Armstrong and many other ministers were lying - over decades - and multiple times - over predictions and speculations about the future. Over 200 times, using the authority of Jesus Christ to back up their prophecies (which is exactly what they were, since Jesus' name was invoked.) No matter how many times one attempts to backtrack or whitewash what happened - what was uttered were lies and fear tactics. Nothing holy or "truthful" was in any of these. 

3. Biblical Knowledge. None of this was the truth either. Herbert Armstrong discarded everything remotely learned by anyone else, then studied himself to mix up his own personal potpourri of religious knowledge. In doing so, he failed to grasp even the most fundamental and even basic basics of fundamental Christianity in favor of his own self-inspired interpretations. In doing so, he (and others) have rejected core realities in favor of man-made traditions. 

4. Herbert's Claim of Christ's Return. This, too, was not the truth, because it did not happen when Herbert said it would happen. We should be well within the millennium right now. We are not. 

5. Herbert's tithing policy. This was error at it's finest and was never intended to be a taxation system for a mini-government. This was simply a way to fund his real-estate projects and college, which brought many to an even worse financial situation then they started with. None of this was the truth. 

6. The History of the Church - even this was not the truth, as we were only given a partial, biased interpretation as to our history, and the history of other churches as well. 

7. Other Churches - Herbert claimed multiple times that other churches "were not doing" what "we were doing", such as with youth programs, and other such things. This was a lie, there was no truth in these statements. Even a precursory examination of 20th Century churches and their projects will prove that Herbert's claims were lies all around. 

And much more. 

The poster claimed I was "running from judgment" from my sins. The poster fails to realize that the core of the Gospel, the very center of the Gospel, is the fact that Jesus Christ has died and paid for my sins, and his, 100 percent. I do not need to run, the penalty has been paid, and my sins have been paid for and forgiven already. This is a gift from God and the heart of the Gospel. I am not under judgment. There is, therefore, now no condemnation, for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1). 

The poster claims I was running because I failed to repent. On the contrary. I know exactly why I was running in my dream. I was running because I had to get away from the evil and the wickedness that was happening around me in that environment. The person who dropped the dishes was being unjustly and unmercifully chastised from the pulpit (in the dream). There was no grace, there was no mercy for that individual. The person was not given an ounce of forgiveness and/or compassion, just unjust persecution for a mistake. It disgusted me to no end. 

The poster, however, revealed exactly what his or her heart believes - that everyone on this blog is an unbelieving, blasphemous, double-minded, mocking and malicious poster. 

Because this person dared to attempt to interpret my dream publicly, I respond publicly. And I state: Judge not. You are speaking generally to situations that cannot be dealt with generally. You are interpreting what you know not where you speak. You may think you are witnessing for "the truth", but you are making a mockery of yourself. The core center of the Gospel is one of reconciliation, mercy, forgiveness, love, faith, mercy, and kindness - everything that was not in the dream that I shared. This is why I was running in my dream. Because in Armstrongism, the very fruits that Christianity is supposed to bear are barren and deserted in favor of ritual and tradition over substance and real truth. I pray your eyes are opened and your heart is softened. Again: Judge not. 

Just one more thing: On the basis of everything the Gospel stands for, and because you claim "the truth" when your truth is lies and deceptions, I hereby solidly reject your interpretation. You do not know of where you speak.

submitted by SHT