How A Marked and Disfellowshiped Employee of Living Church of God Is Making A Difference In The World

Back in 2013 the Living Church of God was in a disfellowshipping tantrum and was kicking out members and employees that Rod Meredith deemed unworthy to be in his presence.

A reader here in 2013 had this to say about the endless disfellowshipments going on in the various COG's:

Mini-lesson on ostracism: historically social ostracism has been the traditional way to protect the tribe from individuals who are deemed as dangerous by the leaders. It probably reached it's most sophisticated height as a cultural mechanism during the period of Athenian democracy of circa 500 B.C. The group psychology of ostracism has been defined as “any behavior in which a group or individual excludes and ignores another group or individual.”

Think about this definition carefully, and you'll see that it pretty much describes the history of the modern-day COG's - except that the procedure is just referred to by a different term, disfellowshipment.

The church has always used marking and disfellowshipping people as a way of "protecting" the church from the ravenous wolves they imagined were seeking to devour it. In the vast majority of the cases, it was about people waking up to the lies of the church and the leadership and taking a stand against some abuse going on. Spiritual and physical abuse in the Church of God had/has been going on for decades and people were and still are sick of it. That is why fewer and fewer people stay in the spiritually abusive cults of Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland, and other groups. Even the so-called "enlightened" groups led by Weston, Theil, Kilough, Kubik, Thiel, Hulme, and others, who imagine themselves to not be spiritually abusive, have been unable to keep members or draw in new cash cows members. After all, what this really boils down to is money flow. Disfellowshipping puts fear in "good standing" members and their wallets open continually open.

Those who have been under Rod Meredith's heavy hands over the decades have shared endless stories over the decades about how nasty and vindictive the man could be. One would have thought after his humiliating exile to Hawaii by Herbert Armstrong and his equally humiliating defeat in court after slandering Leona McNair and having the Worldwide Church of God pay all his legal fees, that he would have humbled himself. But no.  His nastiness carried over into breaking apart the Global Church of God after they got sick of his abuse and carried over when he lined up with other dissenters to form the Living Church of God. There his nastiness had a full reign as he was FINALLY in charge after so many decades of being sidelined and patted on the head as he was sent to field churches.

LCG members thought that finally after all the turmoil from the split from WCG to the break up of Global that peace had settled on the church. It did not last long.  The heavy-handedness and authoritarian control of Rod Meredith and the nepotism displayed through his family members brought about more dissension.

One of the people Meredith disfellowshipped was Tom Bacca from that worked in LCG's television department.

Bacca sent out a letter in 2013 preempting Meredith's soon coming "marking" from the pulpit.  Bacca wrote:

I know many of you will hear about me being declared an "enemy of the Church" which is NOT true... I've already been declared an "enemy of the Catholic Church" by my family many years ago... yet, I am actually an enemy of nobody except the evil one! 

I LOVE God's people, I do discuss biblical topics and issues, and if something is not 100 % according to God's word—I will say so... how horrible of me! I know LOTS of things that I could say, but I do NOT make it a habit of giving specifics about those things that I know... I just don't! I will NOT attack anyone, nor have I personally attacked anymore publicly already—I have been attacked myself though, by MANY for YEARS, and could have filed slander lawsuits against individuals... I never did, and I never will either—God says that we should NOT take our brethren to court, and that is why I forgave and forgot those incidents... even though I had many witnesses that would have testified in MY favor! 

I do understand if many of you, not knowing ALL the details or facts, do decide to unfriend me or block me—I will not be upset with any of you... I love you all, and I know that you will probably do as you're instructed. PLEASE do as you feel is best, that is what God would want you to do. I will be vindicated in time, I will trust in the God of Israel, He is my shield... so, I have total peace in this matter. 

Again, I love you all brethren... see you down the road :)

In Christian faith and love,

Thomas Baca II

One of the big myths that the church tried to pawn off on members over the decades was that when a member is kicked out of the church and disfellowshipped they would never have God's favor again and would live a life of misery and dejection.

Tom Bacca has bucked that trend and has done extremely well for him and his family AND  for those around him in the "world".

A reader here sent this:

I​ know​ Thomas​ Baca​ II​ very​ well, he​ has ​spent the​ last​ several years volunteering to​ help​ individuals and​ families​ suffering from​ homelessness and​ many​ other issues​ and​ teaching them​ about​ God.​ He​ served in​ Michigan for​ about​ 2​ years​ and​ then​ continued​ helping people​ in​ Asia.​ He​ is​ a​ giving and​ loving​ man.​ I​ have​ seen​ him​ serve​ others​ with​ my​ own eyes.​ He​ is​ honest and​ kind....He​ drove​ people​ in​ need​ of​ help​ during​ Michigan​ snowstorms​ during​ midnight and​ 3​ am​ to​ get​ to​ their​ jobs​ o​n farms and​ at​ dairys.​ He​ consuled people​ want​ing​ to​ commit suicide and​ helped them​ start​ their​ lives again.​ He​ gave​ money​ and​ care​ to​ elderly and​ widows.​ He​ helped​ people​ in​ other​ countries too.​ So​ much​ to​ say​ also​ but​ my​ English​ is​ not​ good​ enough.​ Follow​ link​ to​ see​ video​ Thomas​ made​ to​ also​ help​ a​ Michigan​ shelter.

Continuing Church of God...Things are not as rosey as Bob Thiel wants us to believe

 

Things aren't pretty in paradise

Its no longer rainbows, unicorns, and lollipops

 

From a reader and one of his members:

As for the Continuing Church Of god and its leaders' credibility and counseling abilities, as a longtime COG member and a believer (in general terms), I did attend with them. I saw their people and their increasingly fixated and marginal work such as it really is. What of one of their foremost leaders, Richard Close? Years ago Richard was ordered to divorce his wife because his church minister--forcing some church policy--said he had to divorce her if he wanted to be a baptized church member. So, snap like that, he divorced his wife. Richard Close, now a leader in CCOG, chose to put his corporate minister's orders above the Bible's command in Matthew 19:6 which says: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate." He put a minister's word above God's holy Word. some years later when the church's policy on d&r changed, Richard Close's minister gave him his permission to remarry his ex-wife. So, he did. This is not simplistically just a case of love having won out. It is an avoidable, tragic example of a man caving into ministerial hegemony--spiritual bullying-- as the so-called "government of God" having been placed above God himself and God's holy Words. If Richard Close had not been given ministerial permission to remarry his ex-wife, he would not have remarried her. what kind of a COG leader is this? ( Like the plodding, dutiful, and obedient Boxer from Animal Farm.) this is not railing and nastily throwing someone's mistakes at them in a mean-spirited way. For, nothing, in essence, has changed. Consider the implications of such men in church "over" God's laypeople. LCG and other churches are really no different.

What of yet another of CCOG's top leaders, Steve Dupuie?

 

Steve comes across as being not unfriendly, but he is insecure and therefore pretentious and hollow about his church intellect and his knowledge. Therefore, he has been so desperate to prove himself intellectually and in the field of knowledge that he completely minimizes and excoriates the very best and the nicest and most gentle of people who raise points, even by way of friendly discussion.

 

In one case, Warren from Ontario--a good and gentleman in whom is no guile--merely raised a friendly possibility of an idea being extrapolated and not directly stated in the Bible. Immediately, in public and on CCOG's e-mail group, Steve Dupuie accused Warren of being a force of dissension and discord among the brethren. Steve does this regularly to anyone who can out-do him in church writings, knowledge, and Bible studying, which could include everyone. He can't get his way and be the foremost, so he slights and belittles others who are far better than he, and of whom the world is not worthy. the good news is that neither Steve nor anyone has to be seen as being superlative in knowledge and church intellect. Insecurity. Consider the implications of such a man in the church "over" God's laypeople.

I could write of more ... for instance of the CCOG leader I know well who petulantly hacked another COG member's e-mail account and put a trace on it, and taunted him, because he was sore at the member.

Aside from their superficial, fizzling claim to continue the teachings shown by god through Mr. Armstrong and doing "the Philadelphia work", how do these CCOG leaders show Jesus to others? If some read this, perhaps they can explain and help us to understand.

 

 

Why Do Self-Appointed COG Leaders Have So Many Requirements To Belong To Their Groups When Jesus Only Requires One Thing?

Any student of the Bible, regardless of one's theological training, understanding, or lack of, immediately sees that Jesus only required one thing in order to be his follower. Everything else was secondary. Yet, in COGland, various upstarts and self-appointed messiahs and prophets publish long lists of requirements in order to gain followers to be a money cash machine for their organization.

This brings us today to our favorite prophet that is God's most highly favored in 6,000 years of church history.  No other human even compares. No, we are not talking about Super Dave, but once again our very own Bawana Bob, the Great Savior of Africa, or as he is known here in the United States, He who is named Bobus.

The great one recently sent out a missive to his few followers letting them know exactly what they need to do to be followers of his way. The list is long and laborious, as everything he writes and says. He even admits it is long.

A couple of weeks ago, while doing research, I noticed that a Sabbatarian group had a link about how to be part of their church. While the article had some serious errors, it did trigger the thought that we should have an article on that topic.

So, we now do. The article is about ten times as long as the one the other group had, but it better reflects scripture and has more information that potential members should know. Here is a link to that article with its long list of silly steps that need ot be taken: How Do I Become a Member of the Continuing Church of God?

If God is calling you, and you will learn, continue, and seriously do the other items mentioned in this article and what is taught in the Bible, you can be a member of the Continuing Church of God.

In summary, if you are not already a properly baptized part of the Church of God, in order to be considered a real member of the Continuing Church of God, you must:

1. Be called of God.
2. Be willing to seek first the kingdom of God.
3. Repent of your sins.
4. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
5. Strive to live as a loving Christian.
6. Be persuaded that our beliefs are biblical.
7. Contact a CCOG leader for counseling.
8. Be properly baptized and have hands laid upon you.
9. Support the work of Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:19-20, and other aspects of the Philadelphian work.
10. Continue to live as a Christian and endure to the end.

The truth of the matter is if Christ is calling you it most certainly is NOT into the improperly named "continuing" Church of "god." Run the opposite way as fast as you can. Your sanity and salvation depends on it