Deep Thoughts

 

Gerald Weston on lack of faith, division, health issues, and divisive splinter leaders

 

An LCG source brought the following to our attention. It seems that Gerald Weston is wondering why the kids at LCG summer camps came down with Delta variant.

He writes:

We do not currently understand all the reasons we had an outbreak of the coronavirus at our Texas Teen Camp—almost certainly the Delta variant that hit Texas hard at the beginning of July—but in time we will understand better why God allowed it

Weston says he doesn't understand how the variant spread so fast, then says how it had fertile ground to do so: 

We are physical beings, and summer camps are considered risky in the age of COVID-19. And of all types of camps, those like our Teen Camp are riskiest. We had about 240 campers and staff come from all over the country to a place where for two weeks they were to sleep in dorms and eat meals together, and they could not practice social distancing or masking in any practical way. We knew there was a risk, as all it would take would be one individual slipping through the cracks for the virus to spread like wildfire.

The first thing that pops into COG members heads when any church-wide illness breaks out, personal illnesses happen to individuals, or some tragedy hits members of the church, is to ask, "Has God removed his favor because of sin?" or "Were they/or the church lacking in faith?"

Weston then takes a swipe at Sheldon Monson and the Church of God Assembly. It is amazing how bitter LCG is still over this.

Some surely wonder, Why didn’t God prevent the outbreak? He certainly could have. Are we lacking in faith? First of all, it should be recognized that we have been transparent and have not tried to “hide” by not testing for COVID-19 when sickness occurs. We have not concerned ourselves with what others will think—instead, we have focused on honesty and on being upfront. And contrary to what many may believe, the 2020 Texas Teen Camp was not “illness free,” as several who attended the camp have mentioned after the fact, including some who were, themselves, sick at camp. This is not unusual for any camp, of course, and shouldn’t be considered remarkable. But it does help to put the claims of some last summer in perspective. 

 

And this year, one particular group in which some have claimed great faith in God’s protection from sickness also experienced issues with illness in their camp, in some cases severe. Months earlier, the same group had experienced an outbreak at another event, and before long several were hospitalized, including the group’s leader. 

 

Weston does want to make it clear that he only mentions this in Christian love and that he wants it known that just because people get sick in other groups it should not be taken as a lack of faith.

I don’t write these things to condemn anyone, but merely to state the facts and to note that these facts should put shallow claims about faith into perspective. Health challenges such as these should not be taken as signs that those who suffer should be judged as lacking in faith—whether those who suffer are in our group or in another. As I explained earlier, even some of the most faith-filled individuals in Scripture experienced sickness and calamity, and their faith was not shown in God’s miraculous protection, but rather in their godly obedience, attitude, and even gratitude as they endured those trials. 

Weston then seems to refer to Monson and others who have left LCG as their "enemies". 

Concerning those who have fallen ill, in our own organization and in others’, we are grateful to God that most have recovered, and we grieve for those who did not—again, whether in our organization or even among those who have left us. Many of us have prayed for their welfare. As David wrote concerning some who had attacked him and acted as his enemies, giving us perspective and something to meditate upon, 

 

Fierce witnesses rise up; they ask me things that I do not know. They reward me evil for good, to the sorrow of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer would return to my own heart. I paced about as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother. But in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered together; attackers gathered against me, and I did not know it; they tore at me and did not cease; with ungodly mockers at feasts they gnashed at me with their teeth (Psalm 35:11–16).

Never fear though, while they are LCG's enemies they must continue to pray for those lost souls to find their way back into the true fold. 

David’s words are consistent with Jesus Christ’s command to each of us to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Dear brethren, we must follow God’s inspired instructions—and that includes loving and praying for our enemies, even while they may despise us.

Weston then gets into disfellowshipping members who can't heed the governmental demands of LCG.  It is interesting how they are so against members showing discord when their entire church is based upon Rod Meredith, Don Davis, Raymond McNair, and others sowing great discord as they very publicly rebelled against the mother church (only after it has sent millions defending Rod Meredith's big mouth in the Leona McNair lawsuit). Then, in the ultimate act of rebellion, they slapped down Raymond McNair, took all of Global's monies and most of its members in order to start yet ANOTHER splinter group. Of this one blessed True Church, it has birth at least 7 new splinter groups. Sowing discord has been LCG's legacy from the very start.

Does it make sense to believe and follow the reports of clearly divisive men? God hates division! I quoted Proverbs 6:16–19 in my “Dear Brethren” letter, and it is worth examining again. Notice the things that are listed along with divisive men—just as He hates those who sow discord, God says He hates “a false witness who speaks lies” (v. 19). I personally have been accused of “taking the Church into apostasy” as Mr. Tkach did. Brethren, are we not able to see how outright foolish such an accusation is? Where is the evidence? Have any of us in leadership positions hinted that we are not to observe the seventh-day Sabbath or the annual Festivals and Holy Days? Have we ever implied that we should stop distinguishing between clean and unclean meats? Have we gone against any of the 18 truths God restored to His Church through Mr. Herbert Armstrong? Have we neglected Christ’s commission to take the Gospel to the world? You should know the answer to that. 

 

The fact is that over the last two years, the Living Church of God has had to face circumstances and make decisions that neither Mr. Armstrong nor Dr. Meredith faced—just as they faced things in the past that we have not had to deal with. We have had to make decisions regarding whether to limit the sizes of our Festival sites, whether to require masks and social distancing, and whether to worship together online in some situations. It is interesting that splinter groups that have decried online services are now of necessity holding online services. Brethren, we ought to be able to recognize rumor-mongering lies when we see them. And, of course, true Christians do not listen to divisive people who try to paint every decision in a negative light. Instead, true Christians follow Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Weston then goes on to tell LCG members what they should do when they come up against divisive members (excluding themselves, of course).

Yet, while God tells us through Paul that we are to avoid those who cause division, this does notmean that we do not pray for them when they get sick or that we fail to pray that they may see the error of their ways. We are happy when a neighbor, a coworker, or a member of virtually any group—even those who have criticized and derided our decisions and efforts—recovers from serious illness. After all, we too are physical, and we suffer the same trials as our fellow human beings. Our real enemy is Satan the devil, the great deceiver. 

 

We are not the only ones who in the last two years have had to shut down a camp early or cancel a camp due to the novel coronavirus. Virtually all Church of God groups have had outbreaks of the coronavirus and other illnesses as a result of a camp, family weekend, funeral, Feast, or other activity. This is not to say that all Church of God groups are the same or that all are doing the will of God, which brings me to another point.

Weston then goes on to discuss what LCG members should do with those who are no longer part of the chosen church:

Some among us see the various Churches of God descended from Worldwide as “all believing the same thing.” But if that is the case, why have they divided the Church by rejecting Dr. Meredith, who with the founding of the Global Church of God in late 1992 was clearly doing the Work of God by preaching the Gospel to the world (Matthew 28:18–20), giving the Ezekiel warning message (Ezekiel 33:1–7), and feeding the flock (John 21:15–17)? Many who went a different direction freely admitted that Dr. Meredith was already doing these things when they left Worldwide. On the other hand, we have other members who mistakenly believe that anyone in a group outside the Living Church of God is an apostate.

Weston then goes on to take a swipe at Bob Thiel and others who have left the one true church to form their own groups. It's going to frost Bob Thiel's sanctimonious butt to hear Weston say he and others make outlandish prophecies and that it is difficult to see Christ leading him and the rest of the rebellious heroics at all and that he has essentially gone NOWHERE! I can hear the butt pain all the way down here in Pasadena! 

I was recently asked for my thoughts regarding these other groups, and here is what I explained. Some organizations that call themselves “Church of God” are clearly not God’s Church in any way, although there may still be some of God’s people among them. These are often the ones led by a single authoritarian leader who takes advantage of people, pressuring people to donate homes or life-savings they may need themselves someday. They make wild and continual claims about when the tribulation begins and other outlandish prophetic utterances. Some forbid their members from fellowshipping or even associating with family members if they are not members of their group. It is difficult to see Christ’s leadership in these groups in any substantial way at all. 

 

Then there are groups that splintered off from us, rebelling against the leadership of the Church under Mr. Armstrong, Dr. Meredith, or me, and these have essentially gone nowhere. God is not going to honor division. These do not normally reach out to the world in any significant way, but fish in the pond of God’s Church, thus further dividing the Body of Christ and diminishing its ability to do God’s Work. While some make more noise and last longer than others, they virtually all end up splintering further and failing to do the Work of God in any significant way.

Pretty much like LCG is experiencing! As it splinters further and further the church is rapidly shrinking with no discernible message to the world.

Weston then lashes out big time against Thiel, Pack, Flurry, and others for their decisive tactics:

And that brings me to one final aspect I’d like to address concerning this whole matter. From time to time we see individuals who set themselves up to try vainly to bring all the “Church of God” groups back together. If only the leaders would get out of the way, we could all be together, they think. Rather than uniting people, these movements eventually separate people and further divide our efforts to do the Work of God. How often we see someone act as though only the “independent” can “serve the unserved.” How often we see un-ordained individuals attempt to bring groups together socially, as though that is the most important thing. 

 

Brethren, do not get caught up in these movements. They will fail in the end, but in the meantime they further divide and distract people from doing the Work. We have a commission—let us not fail in fulfilling it!

LCG's commission is just as big a fair as Bob Thiel's. No one knows who LCG or even what its message is.

As for camp, I am grateful to be able to say that, in the eyes of most who attended, the Texas Teen Camp was not a failure. Despite having to close so early, we still heard from several campers and staff that it was their best camp experience ever. We were able to work with our staff, including a newly formed group of “high school” staff who caught the vision of where we want to go. This was a good start for next year. Lessons to be learned from this year will become clearer as time goes by. Where the world will be next year, we cannot know, but whatever happens, we trust that Jesus Christ is in charge and that He is working out a plan that we will better understand in the years ahead.

Always remember...Christ is in charge! 

Ahem.... Excuse me?

self-deception

The action or practice of allowing oneself to believe that a false or unvalidated feeling, idea, or situation is true.

"‘The Atlantic’ ran an article titled “Quit Lying to Yourself.’ It explained that this was not good and does not lead to happiness. The BBC ran an article about dangers of self-deception. The Bible warns about lies, self-deception, and pride."

Dr. Robert Thiel

"Who?  Me"

Sermonette by Dr Bob Thiel

 Pride: Quit Lying to Yourself

"Me?  Ha! You got to be kidding!"

Pride: Quit Lying to Yourself

https://www.cogwriter.com/dreams.htm

Bob Thiel writes:

" God will speak to His prophet in a dream."

"Several years ago I had a dream, which while I did not understand it at first, as it became more and more fulfilled over the years, I began to understand it and believe it was from God.

I was about 50 at the time (which essentially makes me an ‘old man’ per Numbers 8:25; cf. John 8:57). At first it made little sense. Yet, the Prophet Jeremiah at least once wondered about a message he received and later determined it was from God (Jeremiah 32:6-8), and the Apostle Peter at least once had a vision that he did not understand (Acts 10:9-17) until later as well (Acts 11:5-17). The same goes for Daniel (Daniel 8). 

 

In my dream, there seemed to be two parallel lines. The presiding evangelist of the Living Church of God (LCG) Roderick Meredith was on the top line and I was on the line much below. In the dream, I kept calling up to Dr. Meredith, but he never would respond. This lack of response made no sense to me during the dream. Then after what seemed to be a long time, the lines-crossed with his line dropping and my line going up.

One reason that I did not understand it at the time was that I was on relatively close speaking terms with Dr. Meredith then (he repeatedly told me he considered me to be his friend, plus he had appointed me an adviser to LCG on matters of doctrine and prophecy), so that aspect made of the dream made no sense. Also, since I had no intentions of leaving Living Church of God then (and certainly no plans to start a separate church), it was not clear what the dream was saying. Another reason I was unsure about the dream then was that I had not had any anointing for the Holy Spirit beyond baptism when I had that dream.

But these matters changed eventually. For one, I was unexpectedly anointed for a ‘double-portion’ of God’s Spirit (cf. 2 Kings 2:9) on December 15, 2011 by an LCG minister named Gaylyn Bonjour  who suggested that the passing of the mantle may had taken place.

Furthermore, over time, Dr. Meredith became more distant from me, would not keep various promises to me, and ultimately stopped speaking with me. And after I got a letter from him on 12/28/12, it was clear to me that there was no way that the Philadelphia mantle could be with him or any of his remaining leaders. These subsequent events showed me that the dream was being fulfilled. This dream gave an outline of what would happen in the future and that has happened.

Notice also: 

 

28 The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. (Jeremiah 23:28)

I also had another dream (and do not recall precisely when, but it was prior to 2012) reminiscent of a vision that Isaiah. In that dream, I recall responding to a request from God and saying, “Here I am, send me” (cf. Isaiah 6:8). I have spoken God's word faithfully.

I told LCG leaders of both dreams per Jeremiah 23:28 though they did not ask for the details, thus they had that witness, before I had to leave (and no, I did not ask for recognition nor make any personal demands, other than urging them to keep their word and correct literature/doctrinal/prophetic errors that they acknowledged they had).

In time, and partially because of statements from Gaylyn Bonjour about the passing of the mantle, it occurred to me that the dreams were showing that the mantle would (or had) pass."

Can you accept the truth about dreams and the Continuing Church of God?

Chart of Some CCOG-Related Dreams

Date	Given to	Dream(s)	Fulfillment
2003	K. Sani Mao	One dream was on the validity of the Sabbath, but the second showed a ‘C’ meaning CCOG or COGwriter to align with.	Became part of the CCOG in November 2018.
c. December 2008	Bob Thiel	The dream showed evangelist Roderick Meredith, who had long called Bob Thiel a friend and who he was on regular speaking terms with, would stop speaking with him. He would drop down as Bob Thiel rose and their lines crossed--seemingly a mantle passing. There was also another dream related to Isaiah 6:8 and apparently the passing of the mantle; the precise year unclear.	Dr. Meredith stopped speaking with Bob Thiel in the Spring of 2012. CCOG formed December 28, 2012. The mantle seemingly passed sometime between 2009-2012. The passing of the mantle potentially related to Bob Thiel was specifically brought up by Gaylyn Bonjour in 2011 and 2012.
December 8, 2012	Fesilafai Fiso Leaana	Approximately 10 people would separate from LCG, including Shirley Gestro and go to a group. A second part was related  to the Ark of the Covenant.	The fulfillment related to departure from LCG and 1o people going to CCOG occurred within several weeks of the dream and included Shirley Gestro (CCOG did not form until weeks after the dream). The part related to the Ark of the Covenant was partially fulfilled during September 2013.
c. November 2013	Frederick Ochieng	God wanted Frederick's father Evans to join with Bob Thiel to do the work that would grow.  Also, this work would have involvement from New Zealand.	The number of CCOG Africans went from a dozen to the almost three hundred (that had been with Evans) in 2014, to over 5,000 by 2021. Also, Frederick said he was unaware that CCOG had any New Zealand component before having that dream and New Zealand has played important roles in supporting CCOG.
c. March 1, 2014	Senhor Pires	Bob Thiel would be speaking to a large group that would all be black, with him the only white person.	Fulfilled March 17, 2014 when Bob Thiel spoke before church leaders in Nairobi, Kenya..
c. January 2017	Nimrod Ondigo	Bob Thiel would anoint him with oil.	Fulfilled on February 9, 2017. Nimrod did not have any reason to know that he would be ordained by Bob Thiel as a deacon as Bob Thiel did not do any ordinations in his previous trips to Africa. Also Bob Thiel did not learn of his dream until about two weeks later.
January 2019	Premkumar Ninthoujam	Alexsandar Veljic would get to Manipur, despite visa and travel issues that looked to prevent him, plus Sani Mao would be anointed with oil.	Alexsandar Veljic arrived in Manipur on January 10, 2019 and ended up anointing Sani Mao as a deacon on January 12, 2019 as Bob Thiel had tentatively authorized (but had not let Sani Mao know).

The Continuing Church of God is the only COG organization with so many of the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18. 

 

Can you believe?

If so, are you taking the steps to support the work confirmed by dreams that came to pass?

In your dreams...

(Time would fail to to note the self-deception on weather, evolution and for sure correct prophecy)