LCG, Star Wars And Rebels

 

I'll just leave this here.....seems like another subtle tactic to shut up any questioning. Rod Meredith was a rebel when he left 2 different church organizations to form LCG, but that doesn't count.

We in God’s Church strive to think biblically about any given topic—to keep our brains turned on and “tuned in” to what the Bible has to say. But what about entertainment?

Entertainment is usually designed to help us stop thinking. When I consider some of the entertainment I enjoy, I know that part of the reason I enjoy it is because it’s not mentally taxing. There’s a danger in this, as you might expect: When we stop thinking, we are still taking in information. For example, Star Wars is my favorite film franchise—but can I just turn my brain off and mindlessly take it in?

There were a few items I realized I needed to filter out of my mindset after being raised on Star Wars. First, it sugarcoats war. Most PG or PG-13 movies do this—characters just scream and fall over when they die, and good guys can mow down legions of bad guys, rarely getting hurt themselves. As a result, I grew up thinking that even though war sounded bad, it was probably something I could survive. I was thankfully able to grow out of that mindset as I got a better idea of what war is really like. Needless to say, God never sugarcoats war, and He is looking forward to doing away with it entirely (Matthew 5:9; Isaiah 2:2–4).

Secondly, Star Wars usually makes its bad guys faceless; stormtroopers are just evil and deserve to be shot for their crimes against the galaxy. In some ways, it’s no different from stories that employ orcs or killer robots—enemies that neither give nor deserve mercy. But when we apply that thinking to human beings, it takes us to places in our history like the Holocaust and other instances of genocide. We have to keep in mind that every human being is created in God’s image and that God’s master plan includes resurrection for all who have died. When God resurrects Nazis (see Matthew 12:41), do we think we’ll just gun them back down? Or, are we called to learn how to help them repent of their evil deeds? Some of the Nazis were literally called stormtroopers—and, despite all their evil in this age, they were still human beings made in God’s image and will have their opportunity to repent.

One more lesson, though there are surely others: In Star Wars, the rebels are the good guys. The rebels are not the good guys in the Bible—they include Korah, Absalom, Nimrod, and Satan himself. A quick word study will show that the vast majority of biblical references to rebel, rebels, rebellion, and rebellious refer to the Israelites’ attitudes and actions toward God and His ways! While there are times when we cannot obey men because of our greater responsibility to God (Acts 5:29), it’s clear that we should be trying to obey humanly constituted government as much as possible. David is a great example of someone who stuck to this—he had every reason to rebel against King Saul, but he waited for God to handle the situation. It’s a big topic, but the main point is that the Bible tells us to try as hard as possible to be obedient, while Star Wars celebrates the mindset of rebellion.

And, for all that, I still like Star Wars. But I try to remind myself to never turn off a biblical mindset. We have to make sure we use the Bible to filter the world and its entertainment, or the world will quickly start to influence us more than the Bible does. Don’t let the world slip in subtle messages through movies and other entertainment—keep your brain turned on.  Mark Sandor.  Thinking Biblically About Entertainment

Oh Noes!!!! Great Britain Had Better Watch Out! The Germans Are Coming!!!!!!!!!

 

It is almost Feast time and our favorite crackpot prophet has to get off another warning to Great Britain that Germany will soon overtake them and put them all into captivity after it kills a lot of them. Troubling times, indeed!

Of course, in COGland, Germany has always been the Great Satan that will rise up and destroy the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, and a few other countries that have a WHITE Anglo-Saxon heritage. 

Bwana Beto Bob always fails to mention that 17% of our population are of German heritage (49 million living in the U.S.). 

Beto will have a quick answer for that. 

Those 49 million Germans living in the U.S. are actually embedded assets that will turn on U.S. citizens when a secret code is delivered to all of them at the same time from South America where Hitler has been kept alive by Satan in Argentina. I mean, Herbert said so, so it HAS to be true!

One branch of them is already geared up to take over the astounding World Headquarters of the improperly named '"continuing" Church of "god"' in Grover Beach, CA. Now that the Pasadena campus has been desecrated, only the Grover Beach HQ will suffice as the governing location of all the concentration camps that will arise along the central coast.

The Bible looks to be pointing to the UK having at least some prosperity before a coming European Beast power takes it over:

23 “And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes. 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. 25 “Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. (Daniel 8:23-25a)

Now for that to happen, Europe will have to reorganize (Revelation 17:12-13). And financial pressures will be a factor. Not getting regular payments from the UK to the EU coffers because of Brexit, plus having trade barriers with the UK, will be factors in harming the EU economy, for a time.

Brexit is hurting both the EU and UK, as are COVID and sanctions policies.

That said, the Bible shows that tThe USA and UK will be taken over by a German-dominated Europe (Isaiah 10:5-11)–so much so, that the world will marvel (cf. Revelation 13:1-4), but also prosper for a time from Europe (cf. Revelation 18).

And the UK, itself, will have financial problems off and on, before it is eliminated. 

Is Criticism of COG Leaders Wrong?

Is Criticism of Church Leadership Appropriate?

A recurring criticism of this blog (and all of the other blogs which are critical of the Armstrong Churches of God) is that the criticisms voiced here (and elsewhere) are evil and inappropriate. Banned by HWA recently highlighted a good example of this in a post titled You have been WARNED about this blog! The commentator noted: "The continuation of verbal attack and condemnation of the Church of God or any group for that matter, is biblically unsound, sinful and destructive." Never mind that the ACOGs continually criticize Roman Catholics, Protestants, and other faiths - they completely miss the irony inherent in this! More importantly, however, was this a valid criticism of our criticisms? Are such criticisms biblically unsound? Are they sinful and destructive? And, once again, if the answers to those questions are "yes," then what does that suggest about their own criticisms of other folks?

First, it should be noted that the founder of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, was continually criticizing the religious leaders of his day! Hence, it is a bit of a stretch to suggest that the practice is not biblically sound. What kind of criticism did Christ level at the religious leaders of his day? He criticized their hypocrisy, inconsistency, emphasis/priorities, pride, leadership style (especially their tendency toward authoritarianism vs. leading by example), and their interpretations of the Torah and God's will (See Matthew 23 and Luke 11), Now that covers a whole lot of territory! Do you recognize any of those same themes/criticisms in the posts that have been critical of the ACOGs and their leadership?

Even so, it should be noted that Jesus NEVER personalized his criticisms of the religious leaders and practices of his day! The Gospels simply do not contain ANY instances where Jesus made derogatory remarks about the personal appearance, speaking, moral character, or educational backgrounds of the folks he criticized. In short, Christ's criticisms always focused on the teachings and examples of the people who were the targets of his remarks. To be clear, Christ's criticisms were NOT personal attacks, and the characterization of criticism as such is discredited by the way that Christ handled these situations. Moreover, as Scripture indicates that Christ lived a sinless life, we must also conclude that criticism of this nature cannot be inherently evil!

Finally, unlike the "Accuser of the brethren" (Satan the Devil) whom ACOG folks are so fond of comparing us to, most of our criticisms of these folks are motivated by a desire to correct destructive behaviors and teachings - NOT to spiritually destroy the target! In other words, we are attempting to point out heretical beliefs and practices for the purpose of helping others to avoid or escape them. Hence, I would suggest that the ACOGs and their leaders heed this admonition found in the book of Proverbs in assessing their reactions to our criticisms: "If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding. Fear of the LORD teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor." (Proverbs 15:31-33)

Lonnie Hendrix