Gerald Weston Hoping To Gain New Followers From GCI Over New Changes

 

Grace Communion International finally took a stand and said that Saturday meetings were out and as a corporate body churches were to meet on Sunday. This is sure to have ticked off a certain portion of the GCI members who are diehard Sabbath keepers. These people remained in GCI because that is where God had placed them when it was still the Worldwide Church of God and to leave it and join a rebellious splinter group was the wrong thing to do. These people endured a lot with all of the changes but stayed loyal to Sabbath and Holy Day keeping, having to endure sitting through sermons on those days detailing the New Covenant approach to those days. When the crap was hitting the fan in Pasadena these people were known as the Lobby COG, or my favorite...The Grumpies. They would gather together in groups before and after services in the auditorium criticizing everything, yet they never had the wherewithal to leave and go with a group that was supposedly faithfully keeping those days and be relatively at peace.

Weston mentioned this new direction of the GCI and is secretly hoping that some of their members have finally had enough. The obvious choice is to join LCG and not that sad little improperly named "continuing" Church of God.

Greetings from Charlotte,
We held an online Council of Elders meeting on Wednesday. It was very encouraging to hear from the Regional Directors and Regional Pastors that they are receiving a steady stream of GOTOs (people inquiring about the Church, baptism, or counseling). We are also hearing of good growth overall, even if it is not evenly distributed across the board. Last year we had a 4.1 percent increase in attendance in the U.S. and 4.9 percent internationally. Our former Worldwide association has apparently mandated for all regions to only meet on Sunday—Sabbath is no longer an option for their congregations—and this has caused some of their members to finally say enough is enough. Mr. Ames’ telecast “Will You Inherit Heaven or the Earth?,” advertising the booklet What Happens When You Die?, garnered over 6,000 responses. As I mentioned in the video update for this week, “People must be concerned about death,” and I would also add—they ought to be! Already in 2023 three other telecasts have topped 5,500. Passover is now less than four weeks away. Let us prepare for the most spiritually prosperous Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread of our lives.—Gerald Weston

UCG: 248 Million Ads And No Impact

I love it when COG's brag about their ad campaigns and then never mention how little impact those campaigns have had. UCG placed 248 million ads and the number of new converts can be counted on one hand, if that. Jesus is mightily impressed! 

UCG's impact is about as good as Bob Thiel's... negligible. 

U.S. Print Advertising—April 2023
The 2022-23 fiscal year print advertising campaign of the United Church of God will draw to a close at the end of April 2023. Throughout this period, 248 million ads in Sunday newspaper coupon inserts will have made available a wide variety of Bible study aids and Beyond Today magazine subscriptions—reaching multiple millions of households in the United States. 

 

In the campaign’s April 2023 finale, two new ads will be tested, offering a subscription to Beyond Today magazine. The headline featured on both ads will state, “Hope: When All Seems Hopeless” with the subhead declaring, “Discover where you can find real, lasting hope when trials have no end and despair threatens to leave you bitter and defeated.” One ad showing a photo of a man will reach five million households and the other ad featuring a photo of a woman will target an additional five million households. By using two different photos, we expect to determine which ad will draw the best response if we choose to advertise to larger audiences during the next fiscal year. 

 

Finally, your vital prayers for God’s blessings on these new test ads will be greatly appreciated. Plus, we offer our thanks for your ongoing prayers for allthe Church’s efforts to reach people throughout the world with the awesome gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming Kingdom of God. 

 

—Peter Eddington, Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services

Pride, Humility and LCG

 

Imagine a Church of God talking about pride and humility. Then think about Living Church of God leaders, Bob Thiel, Gerald Flurry, and Dave Pack. Never have ween seen more prideful self-righteous leaders than we have today in the Churches of God. Yet, these leaders rarely look at themselves or fellow church leaders. It is always the members who lack humility because they are prideful. Their pride is holding the church back and delaying the return of Christ.

Do you really think it is possible for LCG leaders to overcome their pride and humble themselves so that they can be instruments of God's hands in this world? They could not do this when ministering in the Worldwide Church of God and certainly, have not set the example in 2023, almost 30 years after they tried to start anew, twice.

Pride vs. Humility: Bible prophecies reveal that in the last days, people will be proud, boastful, haughty, and headstrong (2 Timothy 3:1–5). Yet, today, even many “Christians” are unaware of what God says about pride and humility in His word. The Bible states “pride goes before… a fall” (Proverbs 16:18) and that humility is a prerequisite for honor in God’s sight (Proverbs 15:33; 29:23). Jesus said the humble will be blessed (Matthew 5:5), and Peter urged Christians to “be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5). The Scriptures reveal that God used Moses because he was humble (Numbers 12:3) and that Jesus was exalted because He humbled Himself by dying for our sins (Philippians 2:8–9). As we examine ourselves during the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, let’s ask God to show us how we can overcome aspects of pride and develop more genuine humility so God can use us as instruments in His hands.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail