Commercial Break: Passages... A Meaningful Metaphor

 As if it never happened: The Return to Cobble Beach 

25 years ago I took my LaStone Hot Stone Massage training and receive my set of basalt stones from the Pacific Ocean. I always promised myself when I was finished with them, I would return them to the Pacific out of gratitude and respect for them being so good to me and my practice as used on hundreds of clients over that time. 

I could not just sell them to someone or even give them away. They had too much of myself and clients in them through some difficult times of transition and challenges as my own WCG crisis unfolded personally.  If I have a soul, these stones contained part of it.

I never could imagine how I would end up in a position to actually return them to the Pacific being in the Carolinas, but...  end up there I have and so back they went this week.

At 17 million years old they gave me a mere 25 years and now seeing them on Cobble Beach, it's like nothing ever happened. 

Cobble Beach just South of Yaquina Head Lighthouse

I found myself there alone at sunrise. Not a soul in sight but pelicans and the occasional sea lion. 

Cobble Beach is quite the unique and violent rock strewn part of the Oregon Coast

Guarded by Dinosaurs...

Cobble Beach is made up completely of smooth basalt cobbles, no sand, that are eroded from the cliffs over thousands of years. Trying to walk on them is almost impossible and is like walking on snow during an avalanche. A hiking stick is all that saved me.  When the waves wash over the cobbles and retreat, it causes the stones to click against each other on every outgoing wave. Very nice sound.... ticka...ticka..ticka...ticka........

My massage stones, hardly discernable from those already there and giving minor hints as to their having a past unlike those that have ever been only on Cobble Beach. 

Once I put my basalt massage stones down on the beach, they immediately started their return to the sea. They are the line from bottom to top of somewhat elongated and a bit off color stones but fit the beach cobbles nicely. In a few hours, the high tide will remove any residual oils from massage and they can spend the next million years with their budds and keeping the secret they hold as to what they were up to in the past. 

In many ways, it is like it never happened.

It was a meaningful experience to me, alone on Cobble Beach at sunrise in a place I never thought I'd ever see again. A few years back I placed some of my parents cremains at low tide in a tide pool there and watch the tide come in and take them away. Another meaningful and deeply profound experience personally.

Cobble Beach, to me, is a very special place, a metaphor of sorts, for the brevity of life and the respect we should all have for each other and the time we have to enjoy it. 

Sunset that evening on the Pacific...

 Thanks for tolerating the share. I am sure there will be more COG BS to report on shortly! :)

 

God's Two Pillars Are Currently In Jerusalem At This Very Moment!

If you thought Armstrongism could not get any crazier after the silly antics of Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, and Dave Pack, think again!

The Kitchen Clan (Samuel, Timothy, Timothy Jr) have really stepped in the red heifer do-do this time. They have long imagined themselves as the TRUE Worldwide Church of God carrying on with the name after WCG apostatized and became Grace Communion International.

They even have stolen as many works of Herbert Armstrong that they could collect to pass off as the "official" registry for all things Herbert. They justify this theft as "fair use".

They see themselves as having a ministry far better than even Bob Thiel's little fledgling church. The Kitchens have Herbert's truths while Bob has only his dreams and a diploma-mill theology degree from India.

The Kitchens are currently in Jerusalem and have set themselves as 'the two of a family" from Jeremiah 3:14. As the Two Pillars, they will use Herb's materials to "preach" the truth and usher in the return of Christ. Poor Bob Thiel is always a day late and a dollar short.

Somehow, I think they believe Herb will be resurrected to preach a final witness to the world. It's hard to tell from their nonsense below, but it is pretty obvious.

This is what the Kitchens posted on Facebook yesterday:

Jeremiah 3:12-18

" Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. 

 

"Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord."

The ONLY VOICE GOD HAS USED in the last 80 years is the voice of Herbert W Armstrong!!!!

Continue.. 

"Turn, O backsliding children(A PEOPLE WHO HAVE KNOWN THE WAY OF GOD, AND HAVE SLID OFF THE TRACK), saith the Lord; for I am married unto you".. Christ is married to the Church!!!!

What people has known the way of God and had heard Mr. Armstrong? God's Church! He is speaking to those who ARE OFF THE TRACK!

Let's continue... 

"I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion".

Now interesting enough, this is speaking of bringing God's Church to Jerusalem!

Some news... My brother Tim and myself are now in Jerusalem! We are TWO OF A FAMILY! These scriptures are very alive for us and we are here for a purpose! These scriptures are about the membership of the Worldwide Church of God coming to Jerusalem NOW! 

Notice as God's people gather together in Jerusalem... "And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding...(So we dont have to worry about ministers brethren, God will bring the right ones. God will nourish his Church for 3 1/2 years. Read Revelation 12)

"And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land(AS GODS PEOPLE TRAVEL TO JERUSALEM), in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more."

Now this is IMPORTANT! God's people are looking toward Christ's return!!

"At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord"

JESUS CHRIST IS COMING TO DETHRONE SATAN! Satan's seat and throne is going to be deposed!

Now if Christ's throne is Jerusalem that means Satan has moved his seat to Jerusalem! What this means is after the Church comes to Jerusalem, armies will come and surround Jerusalem, and the beast and False prophet will appear HERE IN JERUSALEM!

NOW unto Jerusalem: "all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart."

THIS IS SPEAKING OF YOU BRETHREN! IT IS SPEAKING ABOUT US! THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD!

"In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north(GOD'S CHURCH GATHERS)...AND GOES WHERE?

"...to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers."

Unto Jerusalem.

After arriving, we can read where we go from there, what Christ says to those IN JUDEA and also what we read in Revelation 12.

The foundation of the Temple has been LAID! Christ used Mr. Armstrong for that purpose of restoration. Now let it be known the pillars of philadelphia are here to lift God's banner and voice up in Jerusalem!

We are closer to world events crashing down! But it is because God's Church coming to Jerusalem that the United States of Europe will rise up and try to destroy the Church, and when that fails locally they will go back to AMERICA amd CANADA and the UK, and AUSTRALIA, back to the countries where God's Church was living, and then nuclear war will break out and invasions. War will be waged by Satan on those of the Church WHO DID NOT COME! WHO DID NOT HEAR GOD'S WARNING!

SO PAY HEED BRETHREN! BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

Well, crap! How many more of these blithering idiots does the church need to make itself look even more stupid than it already is?

Double-click on the letter below to read it in larger print.

Living Church of God Sees The Fourth Reich Emerging

A recent mailing from Living Church of God.

Where would the Church of God be without having Germany as their go-to villain of the day? Rod Meredith spent decades moaning about the rise of Germany and how they would eventually attack the United States, taking citizens back to Europe as slaves, throwing others into concentration camps, and others destined to die in gas chambers and ovens. Who can forget his rants on citizens being hung up on meat hooks in these camps!

Even Bob Theil who was trained at the glorious feet of Meredith carries on this hysteria. These guys get excited about the prospect of this happening as validation for their corny prophetic teachings.

Some of the Churches of God have spent decades using fear as their motivator to get people to join and keep them in the church. Anyone who questions them or dares leave the church will soon be fodder for these rampaging Germans and the hoards of Chinese that will be here doing the same thing. It will be a real-life version of The Man in the High Castle. 

The church lives in a constant state of fear and needs that fear in order to survive.

Here is what happens when church people are subjected day in and out to fear...

When we hear about adults who are oppressed with fear we have every reason to suspect that something is wrong. It may be a battered wife who walks on eggshells to avoid upsetting a volatile husband. A young woman who has been assaulted sexually may find it difficult to go anywhere alone, particularly after dark. Then we come across congregation members who long to hear something reassuring and comforting in church about the care and generosity of God. What they sometimes do hear is a message that is constantly putting them on edge. Salvation, they are told, is something that can be removed very quickly, apparently according to the whim of the Church pastor. Chris once mentioned a theology which could be summarised by three words, ‘turn or burn’. This kind of teaching is rooted in fear. At its most optimistic it offers a safe place in heaven in return for keeping on the right side of the church leader. Words like obedience and submission may describe the relationship that is expected of the church member towards the leader. This submission is also expressed through the compulsory tithe. Other demands on the family’s income and its free time may be demanded. All these rules are followed, not for reasons of joy or gratitude towards God, but simply because the relationship has become one based on fear. The pastor controls his flock with this weapon of fear. The sense of dread is very real. On this side of the grave there is fear of expulsion from the congregation through shunning. On the other side it is the fear of endless torment in hell. 

I have been recently reading on the topic of the susceptibility of mentally fragile people to religious messages. When a person has a history of mental distress, it is not difficult for a Church leader to control them by working on their fears. The initial friendship offered by a controlling pastor may seem very attractive and important to someone with a precarious mental history. Such individuals are however extraordinarily vulnerable to the abusive controlling techniques used by some religious leaders. Quite often there is an appeal to demonic forces as the explanation for symptoms of mental distress. If the individual buys into this explanation, the state of bondage is complete. Emotionally and psychologically they are in complete thrall to this religious leader who appears to offer them a way forward. Sometimes the help of specialised Christian institutions who specialise in demons are called upon. Few seem to emerge from such places with much in the way of healing. More often the mentally disturbed descend into a cycle of self-harm and even suicidal behaviour as the result of this kind of attention. 

 

The use of fear as a means of control in a religious context is an appalling abuse of power. While such fear-mongering is most quickly absorbed by the mentally fragile, a message involving fear can reach almost anyone, vulnerable or not. Unfortunately, Scripture does possess some narratives that seem to validate the use of these means of control. In America there were published a series of novels which were read by millions of people. These were known as the ‘Left Behind’ novels. The basic message of these books is that the Second Coming of Jesus is imminent. Large numbers of people will be either snatched up into the air or left behind on earth to suffer the most appalling events. The two words ‘left behind’ are a kind of threat directed at people who, by not following a millennial reading, will not be among the Elect. These are the chosen, as determined by the pastor, to qualify as ‘true’ Christians. These are those who agree with him and his teaching. 

 

To summarise this post, I would say that the moment an individual is made to feel fear in a church context, then I suspect that someone is likely engaged in spiritual abuse. Of course, we need to learn responsibility and good judgement in the way we live our Christian lives, but this never needs to involve the deliberate cultivation of fear by leaders. The use of fear as a weapon is, to my mind, a technique of spiritual abuse and there is no excuse for this. The Christian faith is a message of love. This love that we experience and preach is meant to cast out all fear. Were that to be true in all our churches! Fear and control in church -understanding Spiritual Abuse

Hat tip to an LCG source...