LCG has personel neeeds after so many ministers and employees go with Church of God Assembly

Living Church of God's recent debacle with Sheldon Monson has created quite a few job openings in Charlotte. Of course, Gerald Weston is claiming this is because of a dramatic rise in new people interested in joining the church thanks to a new way of doing things with prospective members. For decades the Church of God has made it almost impossible for new people to check out the church and attend services. If you made it past the Gestapo agents of the church then you had to deal with overzealous deacons and deaconesses making the life of new members horrendously awkward.

Now Gerald Weston wants to put on a new face for the public and stop grilling interested people. Too little too late, buckwheat! 

Church of God News had this up:

Gerald Weston reports a big increase in the number of people wanting to attend services, as a result of a change of approach, no longer vetting new people so much. 

 

“In the last quarter, July-September, we had more people request to come to Sabbath services than any quarter since the Living Church of God began – that exceeded our 2015 record by 36%. Now there’s a reason for that. It isn’t just the normal situation. We have changed the way, what we require of people when they ask about Sabbath services. For example, when they go online, we used to ask a lot of questions that were unnecessary. And so we’ve cut it down to the bare minimum … We want to screen them a little bit. We don’t want some nut out here coming to services, someone who’s going to be causing a disruption, but we want to be a little bit more friendly and, for those people who are more shy about giving out information … We don’t want to scare them off before we have a chance to engage them. We do ask them about why they came to the decision to attend services, but that’s optional, and that comes after we already have some other essential information.”

Later on the COGNews site, it had this little bit which I saw in LCG's announcements last week,  and we had fun with it here. Weston also wants us to believe that there is such a huge influx of new members that they need to hire new employees. However, the real cause may be that Charlotte has lost employees and ministers to the Church of God Assembly. If so, it is freakin hilarious!

Gerald Weston writes: “We have significant personnel needs and are working to fill some of those positions in the field ministry and in understaffed departments here in Charlotte. 

 

Beginning in 2021, the Tomorrow’s World English-language magazine will increase from six issues (one every other month) to ten issues per year. This is a major step forward! This will give subscribers more regular contact with the Church. We will drop four pages, from 36 down to 32, and make some other alterations, but overall there will be more content each year.” 

 

Why has such a large proportion of ministers and HQ staff left (for Church of God Assembly?) that LCG now has significant personnel needs? Disquiet among employees is not recent but goes back to the time of Roderick Meredith, who employed members of his family in positions which appeared not to be merited. He also showed partiality toward people he knew and liked, such as the three who joined from David Hulme’s church, and were immediately employed as full time ministers – and exactly one year later all three were promoted, much to the dismay of long-time ministers.

What does it mean to be persecuted? Certain COG Leaders Love To Proclaim They Are Being Persecuted When They Get Called Out

What does it mean to be persecuted?

The leadership in many of the Armstrong Churches of God frequently claim that they are being persecuted because of the message they preach. They are in good company among U.S. Evangelicals in this regard. In short, they don't like the fact that some folks have characterized their messages as racist, homophobic or contrary to the spirit of Christ; and they call this persecution. In other words, any effort to denigrate or limit the appeal of their message is regarded by them as persecution. But is it really fair to characterize that as persecution?

Jesus Christ is reported to have said: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:10-12, NIV Notice that Christ differentiated between those who were to be persecuted "for righteousness' sake" and suffer as a consequence of false accusations, and those who would suffer for the sake of genuine wrongdoing. Moreover, this differentiation is reaffirmed in the First Epistle of Peter where the apostle is discussing the treatment of slaves. We read there: "For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God." - I Peter 2:19-20, NIV

Now my ACOG and Evangelical friends would say that they are standing up for righteousness when they advocate for the harsh treatment, imprisonment or death of homosexuals, abortionists and protestors; and they claim God's sanction for their persecution of these people. And, they have the audacity to claim persecution when someone dares to criticize them for doing it!

From a scriptural perspective, the kind of persecution that Christ and his followers experienced is not even comparable to what these ACOG and Evangelical leaders are claiming. Jesus wasn't simply criticized and insulted because of his message - HE WAS BEATEN AND PUT TO DEATH! Stephen was stoned to death! Paul was imprisoned for years and eventually executed! Indeed, when past persecutions of God's saints were discussed by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read: "Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground." - Hebrews 11:36-38 How many of these ACOG and Evangelical leaders have experienced these things?

Indeed, the way that the Greek word translated into English as "persecuted" is used in the writings known to us as the New Testament suggests people pursuing someone to the death! In other words, real persecution is indicative of an existential threat to the one being persecuted. And, as far as I can tell, none of these ACOG or Evangelical leaders have been imprisoned or put to death yet (at least, not for the sake of the messages they are preaching). On the other hand, the Yazidi people or Chinese Christians would certainly be justified in claiming persecution. However, a little criticism for what many folks would consider the persecution of others, does not even approach the level of real persecution. Even if we consider the targets of these folks to be "evil," we are hard-pressed to find any scriptural justification for persecuting them. In fact, isn't the proper role of a minister of Jesus Christ to seek that which was lost and to bind up the brokenhearted?

Hence, as long as these folks continue to peddle their hate-filled messages about "sinners", they should expect to be challenged by others. My advice to them: Stop whining about persecution and put on your big boy pants and get ready for some tough talk!

Miller Jones/Lonnie Hendrix

Restored Church of God on Delay Syndrome

With the ongoing epic failure of Dave Pack's prophecies failing to happen and the failure of his creature he calls "christ" to show up on The Last Great Day, Restored Church of God members must be on guard to not get into "delay syndrome".

Of course, this is not unique just to Restored Church of God but every single splinter group out there that has to deal with the lies and false prophecies of their leaders. From Ron Weinland to Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, and Gerald Flurry, these ministers of vainglorious pig slop have tainted the minds of members for decades with one lie after another. Is it any wonder why church members are wary of the next buffoon that pops up with a prophecy?

In the RCG and the rest of the COG's, it is all about control. 

Samuel Baxter and Larry McElroy have this to say:

One of the most sobering passages in the Bible can be found in Matthew 24: “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays His coming…[God] shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vs. 48-51).

No Christian wants to fall into this condition!

Over the years, some have wondered if they have individually done what is stated here, that they may be worthy of being cut asunder.

Yet notice that the evil servant here is far down a terrible trail. In verse 49 it states that this person “shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” Then verse 50 states that he is no longer watching for Christ’s Return.

Understand. Anyone worried about falling into this condition and receiving the horrible punishment detailed here has not fully committed to “my Lord delays His coming” thinking. In fact, most are far from it.

Despite this, Jesus Christ’s warning stands. We are to diligently guard ourselves from this mindset, which can seem incredibly difficult at first.

Why is this? Because this phrase is not something people say out loud. No one comes to Sabbath services and bellows out, “My Lord delays His coming!” Rather, this sentiment is said in one’s heart (vs. 48). It is not immediately visible from the outside.

While this Delay Syndrome, as it could be called, is an internal, spiritual condition, it does have outward symptoms. There are early warning signs we can each look out for to ensure we stay right with God. 

 

To “eat and drink with the drunken” means to have jumped headlong back into the world. The apostle John warned against this attitude: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15).

Take this verse at face value. If we love the world, God’s love is not in us. We must avoid worldliness at all costs!

John continued: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever” (vs. 16-17).

Worldliness is this: “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

Thayer’s defines lust as “craving,” “longing” and “desire for what is forbidden.”

This passage mirrors perfectly what Eve did in the Garden of Eden millennia ago. She desired the forbidden fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Gen. 3:6).

While Eve made her own decision, Satan’s tactics to get her to eat is the same then as it is now. She was told: “You shall not surely die…” (vs. 4).

Those alive today can feel the same. If they allow a little worldliness to creep in, the consequences are usually not immediate. Then, they let more and more in.

King Solomon wrote about this tragic tendency: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Ecc. 8:11).

Realize how human nature works! When people do what is wrong—seemingly without consequence—they will keep doing it until it “is fully set in them to do evil.”

Christians are not immune to this process.

To combat this, we must keep the right perspective: “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him: but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he fears not before God (vs. 12-13).

We must see beyond the here and now to all that God has promised for us: eternal life as a member of the God Family.

The early warning signs for Delay Syndrome are those places where worldliness has begun to creep in. It always starts small.

Ask yourself: “Have I begun to crave what is forbidden by God’s Law? Is there anywhere in my life that I have believed Satan’s lie of ‘you shall not surely die’? Am I starting to do such things?”

If we find the world creeping into our lives, we must root it out immediately!

Carnal versus Spiritual

Paul puts worldliness another way. He labels it as following after “the flesh” and being “carnally minded.” In modern language, this is being overly focused on what is physical rather than spiritual.

Romans 8 states: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (vs. 5).

The end result for those who “mind the things of the flesh”? “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (vs. 6).

Paul continues to drive the point home: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God”—physical minds are the enemy of God!—“for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (vs. 7-8).

Thankfully, God has pulled us out of this world. His Spirit dwells in us. This means that we can please Him—if we keep ourselves focused on spiritual over physical matters.

Keep reading: “But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His…For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (vs. 9, 13-14).

Again, if we find the world starting to creep in, we must root it out. Paul says to mortify—to kill—anything that is pulling our focus away from spiritual things.

Second Symptom

Another early warning sign for Delay Syndrome involves our relationships with brethren. Recall that the evil servant began “to smite his fellowservants.”

Remember, this is more of the end result of this condition. It describes someone who harbors bitterness to the point of exhibiting extreme hatred and spite toward those with the Holy Spirit.

How does someone get to this horrible point?

One of the first signs is pulling back from fellowship with brethren. Spending time with fellow Christians is a crucial way to exercise and build God’s Spirit. Arriving just before Sabbath services and leaving just after, skipping socials, and closing oneself off emotionally to others are all early symptoms of “my Lord delays” thinking.

We all will have low points in our conversion. There will be times where we fall into wrong attitudes. The Bible has many examples of God’s servants being depressed, frustrated or angry without cause. Yet these same men and women will receive eternal life.

One of the biggest tactics of cults is to keep its followers busy. Show up early for church, stay late afterward. Set up, clean up. Go to endless activities whether they be sporting events, dances, socials, singles events, Bible Studies, bake sales, garage sales, mail packing work parties, volunteering to clean ministers homes and yards, maintaining the Dear Leader's home and property, spending your free time cleaning surrounding woodlands, come in early to work and stay after hours, don't take vacations but send that money in, volunteer planting trees and flowers, selling fruit, and much more.

If we have begun to drift away from our brethren, we must recognize it and make a change. Double down on godly fellowship. Make sure conversations on the Sabbath focus more on spiritual things rather than physical. During the week, reach out to like-minded brethren to help combat being surrounded by unconverted family members or co-workers.

For those of us who are more emotionally closed off, ask God to help you open up. Develop deep relationships with others. Share your triumphs and struggles. Counsel with your minister when needed. These will all steer you clear of Delay Syndrome.

Defining “Delays”

Let’s take a closer look at the phrase “my Lord delays His coming.” Delay implies more time—a lack of urgency.

Instead of working on himself, such a person lets down his guard.

This often presents itself in an “I’m fine the way I am” attitude. Instead of overcoming sin and striving to be perfect like the Father, such a person rests on his laurels. He relaxes.

Think of Christianity as swimming upstream. You have to keep moving in order to make progress. If you stop, you will flow down river with everyone else. Those who stop growing will fall into habitual sins, which is a dangerous place to be.

This is a load of bullshit. Christianity is not about swimming upstream and endlessly struggling to please that eternally pissed off God of Armstrongism. It can never be pleased, it's bloodlust can never be satiated. 

There is a reason Jesus said what he did in Matthew 11:28-30:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

King David prayed: “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression” (Psa. 19:13).

We should ask God to show us the places we need to change. All of us must root out and avoid any deliberate sins that have become part of our lives. If we do this, we can be found “innocent from the great transgression”—we will receive salvation!