"They all seized the places of honor for themselves."

Taking the Place of Honor

When I think of Herbert Armstrong and the folks who have claimed to be his successors (e.g. Roderick Meredith, Gerald Flurry, David Pack, Bob Thiel, etc.), I am reminded of something that Jesus said to his disciples, and that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans. To coin a phrase, the PLAIN TRUTH of the matter is that these guys have such an exalted notion of their importance and place in both the present (the ekklesia) and future (God's Kingdom) that they have little or NO compunction about claiming the best seat at the banquet!

In the Gospel of Luke, we read: "Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 'When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 14:7-11, ESV

In similar fashion, the Apostle Paul once wrote to Christ's disciples at Rome: "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight." - Romans 12:3-16, ESV

Now, when we compare the exploits of these men with these passages, we are forced to conclude that they all seized the places of honor for themselves. They all thought much too highly of themselves! Instead of seeking to serve their brothers and sisters in Christ, they chose to gather the reins of power and prestige to themselves and lord it over their brethren (Matthew 20:25-28). Hmmm, that reminds me of something else Christ once said: "many who are (present tense) first will be last, and the last first." (Matthew 19:30) In other words, by their own actions, these men have assured that their place in God's Kingdom will be small (if they make it there at all)!

Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix

PCG: How Bright And Happy You Are Today Will Determine Your Star Quality And How Much Your Face Will Shine In The Kingdom

 

More asshatery from the Philadelphia Church of God cult and Lil'Joel Hilliker:

Get a load of this absolute nonsense:

Mr. Flurry says, “We in God’s Church should radiate something entirely different! I believe that, in a general way, we may be able to determine how much star quality and brightness we will have in the future by how much our face shines today in happiness and joy. God wants to make you happy. He has commanded that you be happy! And He has instructed us in exactly how to achieve that: ‘If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.’” You are truly happy when you live God’s law of love—the give way. That is what makes us happy!

This is just more of the continuing nonsense that PCG is reenforcing in members in that they are all Royally here on earth and depending on how well they keep the law and other non essential things will determine how big their royal status will be in the kingdom.

Ron Fraser wrote in a 2011 Philadelphia News article: “To aspire to the highest standard of elegance in personal presentation, general bearing, manners, speech and the appreciation of the finer things in life is a requirement of royalty.” Royalty in this world receives specific training in how to present themselves. They represent the royal crown and must be aware of this standard as they interact with other people. You must think on this as a representative of the new throne of David. We are a part of a royal culture—we are royals!

Some will be greater royals like Lil'Stevie and King Daddy will be. Church members faces will never shine as bright as the faces of these two blithering idiots or those in leadership positions on the cult compound.

1 Corinthians 15:41 reads, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” In John’s Gospel: The Love of God, Gerald Flurry explains, “Some stars are greater and more luminous than others. God really wants us to have a lot of glory! He wants you to have the most ‘star glory’ possible when you are born into the God Family.

Did you know your Royal Report Card is keeping track of you shiny happy face? So, don't be a grumpy, otherwise you will get a failing grade:

“But even today, we should shine with a certain glory. Our faces should shine with happiness!” If “happiness on your face” appeared on your report card, what grade would you be getting? This is important to having a royal personality.

If you are unhappy or a grumpy, then you are a sinner!

Mr. Flurry continues: “Isaiah 3:9 describes how, because of Israel’s sins, ‘The shew of their countenance doth witness against them ….’ Look around, and you see many unhappy people in this world—people in the bonds of sin.” Can you see that? There are a lot of “stars” in this world—actors, models, influencers—who are physically beautiful, but do they radiate joy? They majority of people look unhappy, and this is caused by sin.

How can anyone who is a member of controlling Armstrongite cults truly be happy, especially those in the Philadelphia Church of God, Restored Church of God and even the improperly need "continuing" Church of "god"?

The truly happy people are those that have LEFT Armstrongism!

Nothing New Under This Sun:

Why Do Seventh Day Adventist Leave Their Church

 

 

Exit Interviews: Why Do People Leave the Church?

29 April 2021  

https://atoday.org/atss-5-1-21/

There have been a number of projects dedicated to looking at attrition in Seventh-day Adventism, at who leaves the denomination and why. One of the most recent is this presentation by Dr. David Trim, the church’s Director of Archives, Statistics and Research, presented in 2016. (Dr. Trim has also been interviewed on the topic.)

While some studies have been conducted that did interview former Adventists to ask about their reasons for leaving the church (and Dr. Trim’s work does draw on those studies), many such presentations simply assume the reasons. The most common explanations given by current Adventists for why former Adventists have left are: (1) having been “hurt” in some way by the actions of church members or (2) wishing to “enjoy a life of sin” without the constraints on behavior of religious belief.

I thought there’d be value in simply asking some former members about their reasons for leaving, to try to develop a more nuanced understanding of what is going on for people. I should note that, although I do social science research in my day job, and have even published books on research methodology, this is by no means a formal study, and the results are only indicative. It’s an informal conversation with friends. From an ethics perspective, I won’t use any names, and I have the consent of all participants to share their reasons and stories.

It’s worth thinking about the “destinations” where former believers find themselves… or at least, the current waypoints on their life journey. By no means all end up “enjoying that life of sin”—in fact, very few do.

Quite a few join some other Christian denomination, or consider themselves “spiritual but not religious.”

Others become, if not “agnostic,” perhaps “apatheist”: apathetic toward God and religion. They are not anti-religious, particularly; they just consider that religious belief has no meaning or relevance in their lives. They find meaning in their relationships and secular (non-religious) activities.

And, of course, some also become atheists who consider that religious belief in general is a delusion. Even within the atheist group, some are more strongly anti-theistic while others are closer to the apathetic position.

I think this is important, because it takes us a little beyond the binary of “Adventist = saved, non-Adventist = lost.” If we genuinely accept that believers in other Christian denominations can be saved, then attrition from Adventism is not seen as necessarily attrition from faith or salvation. A more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of where people find themselves “after Adventism” is simply more accurate, and therefore more useful, than a simplistic binary.

I’ve asked a number of people in an online group I’m part of, and here are some of the answers. I try to group them a little, without presenting them in rank order or order of frequency of responses—the body of data is too small for that kind of analysis.

1. Being “defined out” – people who feel that Adventism has been defined (including in changes to the Fundamental Beliefs) in ways that define them as being “outside,” and choose to accept that
2. Studying their way out – people who have been convinced by very extensive and careful study of scripture and theology that various claims of Seventh-day Adventism are not supported by the best available evidence
3. Recent creationism – people who find the very strong insistence on a literal 6-day creation week less than 10,000 years ago impossible to reconcile with their understanding of science. This is sometimes associated with anti-science perspectives on other issues such as the health effects of coffee or masturbation.
4. Hierarchy – people who believe the denomination should be more congregational and local rather than global, so that local cultural differences can be accepted, rather than requiring uniformity
5. Institutional protection of sexual predators – people who have been horrified by the treatment of survivors of sexual abuse (including themselves or people close to them) and their abusers, including cover-ups and “moving along”
6. Women’s ordination – people who believe that some women are called to pastoral ministry and should be in all ways equal with men in that calling
7. Morality of God – people who find the God who killed almost everyone on Earth in a Flood and commanded genocide of women and children after the Exodus morally unacceptable
8. Sexuality – people who are gay, bi or trans and were told their very existence was wrong and excluded by both doctrine and practice
9. Fluidity of belief – people who are not rigid in their belief structures, and who “flowed in” and later “flowed out” of belief
10. Never believed – people who never really believed in supernatural things, in many cases despite being brought up in the church, and left once they were socially free to do so
11. Claimed inerrancy of Scripture and Ellen G White – people who have identified errors in the Bible or the writings of Ellen White, when both are (sometimes) claimed to be inerrant (noting that inerrancy is not mainstream Adventist doctrine in either case)
12. Inconsistencies within Scripture or between doctrine and Scripture – people who have identified inconsistencies within the Bible, within the writings of Ellen White, between EGW and the Bible or between the Bible and Adventist doctrinal positions
13. Desmond Ford, his treatment at Glacier View and the Investigative Judgement – people (usually old enough to have been around at the time) who accept Dr. Ford’s critique of the Investigative Judgement doctrine, and/or who believe that his treatment by the denomination at the time and later was unfair
14. Exclusive truth claims – people who find it impossible, in a very large and very diverse world of almost 7.9 billion people that a small group of 22 million Adventists (about 0.3% of the global population) has the One True Way and the other 99.7% of all human beings are just wrong