Below is a letter sent to Exit and Support Network detailing absurd comments made by a Philadelphia Church of God minister, Roger Brandon. The comments in parenthesis are by ESN.
Members Told Not to Take Satan’s Bait:
March 19, 2021
Roger Brandon recently gave a sermonette where he told members not to take Satan’s Bait. (Comments by L. S.)
He threw out the question, “Have you ever wondered what Satan is doing during the days leading into Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread?”(Comment: This causes the members to concentrate right away on Satan.)
It has always amazed me at how much more powerful Satan is to Church of God leaders and members than the God they supposedly are following. This is just one more legacy of the church shoving Jesus to the back burner and ignoring all that he accomplished. When the emphasis in the church is placed upon gaining favor from God by keeping the law, the COG ignores or deliberately lies about Jesus. This, in turn, lets Satan become all-powerful and always out to destroy gullible or backsliding church members.
Then he told them Satan is getting them to “leave the church” and “bait them into sinning” and if they do those things, he can “slowly erode their faith.” He quoted from HWA more than once. (Comment: Brandon doesn’t mention that even though Satan tempts Christians in many ways, “we are not unaware of his schemes” [II Corinthians 2:11] and we can take up “the shield of faith” to “quench all the fiery darts” thrown at us [Ephesians 6:16].
It is always Satan's fault that members leave the church. It never seems to be the abusive and vile leaders and the garbage they preach. People will only take being treated like dirt for so long and then they will leave. After decades of lies about prophecy, some are deciding to leave PCG now. Others leave because they are sick of the "no contact" perversion that the Flurry's and their jack-booted ministry teach.
He talked about Satan “broadcasting in attitudes and moods” and “sometimes we can’t resist that bait.” (Comment: This is referring to how HWA always said Satan had some sort of “wavelength” that he sends out through the air broadcasting bad attitudes. This is the opposite of Ephesians 6:10-18, a passage which talks about more than “Satan” having some sort of “bait.”)
We have discussed before on here the epitaph that COG leaders regularly throw out at members who they deem to be in "bad attitudes." This epitaph is a direct way of silencing critics. Members who have been accused of this are then deemed to be in direct rebellion against God, which is a lie.
He quoted I Peter 5:8 and said, “Satan is “always on the job” and” Satan is out to destroy us.” (Comment: These words do nothing but concentrate on fear.)
Fear is the best message COG cult leaders use to keep members under control. Fear of Satan taking over their minds. Fear of not going to the place of safety. Fear of the great tribulation. Fear of disfellowshipment. On and on the list goes. The church has made Satan more powerful than anything Jesus ever did. They never mention when Jesus says to "rest" in him and not worry. Let him carry your burdens and worries.
Then he laid guilt on the members, by saying, “When we fall it’s because we’re not close enough to God.” (Comment: It’s because we are not depending wholly on Christ and standing fast in His grace [I Peter 5:12 and Colossians 2:5, steadfastness in Christ, which Brandon didn’t quote because he left outgrace and Christ as our Helper.)
If you are a Christian and have been taught to understand the things Jesus accomplished it is just as L.S said above. Being steadfast in the comforter makes it a lot harder to fall, and even when one does, there is no need to worry about ultimate damnation, the fake damnation that the COG loves to scare COG members with.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
He told them there is “grave danger” in getting their minds on themselves. Because then they “can’t really comprehend Passover or conquer the Devil.” (Comment: It is Jesus, not us, who is the one that goes forth to “conquer” [Revelation 6:2]. Also read: How can I observe Passover if I’ve left the group? from our Q&A which also talks about Passover).
The COG has made a business out of training members to focus upon themselves and not on Jesus. Keeping the law correctly as interpreted by COG leaders forces the members to constantly look at themselves to see how they are doing. That is the emphasis that the COG places upon members at the COG version of Passover. They are to spend weeks beating themselves up over all their indiscretions over the last year. Are they worthy? Are they in the right attitude? Have they deleavend their home, car, and office properly? Have they deleavend their mind so they don't sin anymore? Blah, blah, blah. When they do this they have let sin trump redemption letting Satan once again become more powerful than that wimpy Jesus COG leaders love to mock.
He said Satan has the “right bait” for each of us and it might be to: not pay our tithes, control our temper, lack of patience, lust of the flesh, or words we hear from others and how we react. (Comment: Tithing and offerings have always been a major doctrine in PCG, especially during the holy days. Read: “Tithing and Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing.”)
Fear, fear, fear. Satan's bait is always more powerful than Jesus. Not tithing is never going to cause anyone to be taken over by Satan, especially since it is not a new covenant command. Losing one's temper, have a lack of patience are not salvation issues.
One of the worst things he said was that God won’t even hear our prayers (he quoted Isaiah 59:2) and added that “Our sins separate us from God.” (Comment: This is seriously in error since God has forgiven all our sins through Christ Jesus. Read: “The Sin Question.” PCG ministers are known to constantly quote from the O. T. which was the old covenant and Christians are not under the old covenant.)
This has to be one of the stupidest comments I have heard a minister make, well, at least in the last 30 minutes or so. The fact that Satan is so powerful that he can put up a force field between COG members and their God when it comes to prayer is idiocy. This also says that the prayer of Christians and others around the world are going unheard while the prayers of COG members are the only ones getting through. Apparently, Satan is too weak to stop those prayers from ascending on high.
There was so much emphasis on striving with a focus on Satan in this sermonette. (Comment: Brandon does not want to emphasize that we who have trusted Christ and his free gift of eternal life are overcomers because “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). He does not focus on Christ and what He has already done for us. –PCG source (additional comments by L. S.)
