Ever the master of double-speak, Weston begins his Trumpets sermon mocking human interest in disasters. He references how many disaster movies have been produced, including spoof versions like my favorite, Sharknado. BUT, then proceeds to show how Trumpets represents our own disaster movie in which we get off on annually and is the driving force behind the "work."
His first Biblical reference as an intro to the sermon was Amos 5:18
"Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness and not light."
The only real proof of conversion in the eyes of COG headquarters everywhere is tithes and offerings. If your Jeremiah 17:9 heart is not fully backing this "work" financially, well you can expect a gruesome death in just 3-7 years at the bloodthirsty hands of Germans.
Let not the irony be lost on anyone. The Hebrew word for "desire" in this verse means: to wish for, covet, lust after, crave, be greedy for.
It is the same word used in the 10th Commandment: Thou shalt not covet.
Emphasis on what makes one "Christian" in the Millerite movement for 180 years has been the expectation of Jesus return in your lifetime, often including set dates and urgent warnings of only having 3-7 years left to get it right. HWA turned this into a lucrative business, using the Day of the Lord as his primary message in whoring for so many "Christian" dollars. [Check out my post, "Whoring For Money"]
In the 9/17/2020 World Ahead (Weekly Update), Weston says,
"Mr. Richard Ames recorded a Tomorrow’s World telecast titled “What Happened to the Christianity of Christ?,” offering one of the late Dr. Roderick C. Meredith’s strongest booklets, Restoring Original Christianity." [Check out my review of this booklet in the post titled, "Narcissists Ruin Everything"]
Anyone who has spent any time in any of the COG's should know what is meant by Air Quotes Christianity. It is the unreal Christianity out there. It is mainstream Christianity. It is the way we automatically and always discern ourselves from this world's Christianity, even when we speak amongst ourselves. We can't help it. It is Pavlovian.
To discern ourselves from Air Quotes Christianity, Meredith initially was calling LCG Christianity, "Apostolic" Christianity. But fearing this might confuse people into lumping us in with Apostolic churches, he changed the label to "Original Christianity."
COG Christianity can be summarized as a sect that puts emphasis on tithing, the observance of days, and prophecy peddling. It relies on external conformity to the detriment of internal awareness and critical thinking. It relies on the sacrifice of self to an imposed greater good to the detriment of personal responsibility to your most intimate and cherished blessing, the family. COG Christianity is a fascist nanny state that usurps the sovereignty of a man in his own household. COG Christianity lives and will die by this one verse, Matthew 24:14.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come."
Just what did happen to the Christianity of Christ, Dick?
LCG has been bragging for years about how they have the "more sure word of prophecy." I have no idea on what they are able to base this. The 2019 Behind the Work video made for the Feast of Tabernacles had this as the theme. These men are truly greedy for and coveting after global calamity. They spend all their time cherry-picking gloom and doom news headlines from the four corners of the earth. The Day of the Lord is their primary source of income. It is what they covet but not for the sake of mankind or that it would actually come but because it puts food on their tables, suits on their backs and braces on their children.
COGs love to cart out Amos 3:7 this time of year.
"Surely the Lord does nothing unless He reveals his secret to His servants the prophets."The Millerite/SDA/COG movement came into existence rooted in the idea that they had a more sure word of prophecy. HWA staked his marketing on Matthew 24:14 and the support of his corporate nanny state as the surest way to escape the horrors of a Great Tribulation that is always 3-7 years away.
Weston goes on to complain about the echo chamber that is the internet and confirmation bias, the very things that butter his bread. He complains about brethren being on the internet and using platforms to communicate with one another (much love, Gary). He literally complains that brethren are getting caught up in "reasoning" with one another in the cloud.
BUT the cold hard truth everyone in COGs must face is that their God has revealed no secrets in 180 years. They must face the fact that their God has done nothing in 180 years. There has not been one single incident where anyone in the corporate COGs can cite as proof that they are true prophets and that they have a sure word of prophecy. No, not one.
This must lead any thinking person to come to grips with the fact that all COGs are just the same as all the other Air Quotes Christian churches out there. They all make up what can best be described as "Corporate" Christianity. They are all designed and used (to varying degrees) to control people and milk them of their livelihoods.
True Christianity cannot exist anywhere in any way other than in the sovereign consciousness of individuals.
"Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness and not light."
Organizations that peddle fear, using the Day of the Lord and using dollars to measure conversion are the very ones that need to heed this verse. There is going to be a very large number of individuals who are employed by and support corporate prophecy peddlers that will be surprised to find they have very little oil in their lamps when the time comes or find themselves unemployed in their Kingdom of God. Amos goes on to say in 5:21,
"I hate, I despise your feast days."
[I have taken Amos 5:18,21 out of context, just like the COGs do regularly, but my point is made.]
So what is required of all Christians? Is it to financially back Corporations that justify demanding tithes and offerings to support a fulfilling of Matthew 24:14? I will say this. Individuals, called by a God who has been silent for 180 years, may reveal secrets some day and be accredited to spreading the gospel at the end of the age. But just like Paul, they will do it on their own dime without any financial demands put upon others. There may be "a" Christian that will fulfill that calling. But as for "all" Christians who want to be in God's favor in that day of judgment, I recommend you fulfill what is so plainly given by Jesus Himself in Matthew 25:31-46.
Your daily walk with that God and how that God works through you in daily interactions with other human beings is what will determine who is a Christian and who is an Air Quotes Christian.
HWA (like many religious charlatans before and after him) duped a generation of well-meaning folks into breaking very fundamental verses required of all Christians to put their families first and instead, embraced a devastating lie to put Corporate Christianity first. Judeo-Christian wisdom cries out in both testaments.
"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children" --Proverbs 13:22
"But if anyone does not provide for his own and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." --I Timothy 5:8
As for Weston and the rest of the COGs, the writing is on the internet wall. You can cite all the clicks, likes and views that you want from your laptop "work." We all can see there are no new faces walking into services. We see the inflated feast attendance numbers you announce. (Dude, I'm right here!) Your conversion rates are essentially zero. COG growth today is measured only in births. 180 years of history is calling you out. And thankfully, that history will be there for them to read right here in the cloud when they come of age. The movement is over. Men...Put YOUR families first! Putting your family first is putting God first.
Stoned Stephen Society
