Monday, April 8, 2024

Is It Possible To Have True Friends In The COG Who Stick By You No Matter The Circumstance


 


Anyone who has been in the Church of God for any time values the friends they think they have made in the church and believes that they will stick by you no matter what happens in life. That might be until you either leave the church or are kicked out by some ludicrous claim by a so-called minister or church leader. Then you quickly learn that those so-called friends are merely only acquaintances. Very few if any continue friendships with those who have been kicked out of teh church due to the draconian rules of control the church has over members. With veiled threats of losing one's salvation if you dare to talk to ex-members, even when passing in supermarkets. Many will see former friends and watch them quickly go to another aisle so that they do not have to talk with each other.

Living Church of God has this up on friendship. It is a strange read considering the number of families and relations broken up by the church and Rod Meredith over the decades. Yet, they have this to say:

Foundations of Friendship: We all want to have friends, yet, sometimes we lack the skills to achieve this goal. However, the Bible provides us with important keys. Solomon wrote that to have friends, we must be friendly (Proverbs 18:24), we must treat people with kindness and have pure motives (Proverbs 22:11), and support others in their time of need (Proverbs 17:17). True friends will tell you the truth and offer wise counsel; they will not use flattery or spread gossip (Proverbs 27:6–17). Real friends are gracious, hospitable, and concerned about the needs of others (Acts 27:3). True friendship involves being willing to make personal sacrifices for others who have needs—Jesus was willing to lay down His life for people He called His friends (John 15:13). Jesus said we can become His friends—if we follow His instructions and His example (John 15:14). This is how Abraham became a friend of God (James 2:23). Let’s strive to become kind, caring, and friendly Christians. 
 
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

Don't forget - Jesus Returns April 21, 2024

Crackpot Prophet Weighs In On The Eclipse


Why is it that Church of God leaders and ministers feel they have to weigh in on every single thing talked about or going on in the world around them? No one really cares what any of these hosers really think, especially since they have all been proven to be false prophets and false teachers. The proven track record of 80 years of prophetic lies and half-truths makes every single one of them untrustworthy in everything they say.

Yet, our very own crackpot prophet, the Great Bwana to Africa, God's most highly favored representative to walk this earth since Paul and James feels he needs to tell his too-stupid-to-have-common-sense followers what to do and not to do when looking at the eclipse.

So, those who plan to try to view the solar eclipse need to exercise caution so that they do not injure their eyes. Those who view the eclipse without proper protection are are real risk of permanently damaging their vision. Some could even lose their eyesight. 
 
That is a fact.

One fact that needs to be understood is that in Armstrongism there are a LOT of crackpot theories and beliefs that occupy members' minds. Given the fact that so many were gullible enough to fall for many of the false "truths" of Armstrongism, they are now gullible for any conspiracy theory and other nonsense that run rampant through the Church of God movement. From Fema concentration camps designed to house true believers, the pathetic holocaust deniers, the 9-11 was an inside job, the flat earth crowd, the die-hard believers that HWA is going to be resurrected to come to back and rescue the church and that Bob Thiel, Ron/Laura Weinland, Dave Pack, and Gerald and Stephen Flurry being one/both of the two witless witnesses.  If there is a conspiracy then the Church of God is right in the midst of it or creating a new one.

Credit does go to the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu though for calling out some of the crazier crap that the WorldNetDaily (the go-to news source for the COG) trash news publishes as false, but then goes on to add his utter falderal

World Net Daily, again, put out something related to Mark Biltz:

April 6, 2024
WND has reported Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries, an expert on those historical perceptions, noted in the Bible, solar events are recorded as having a remarkable and sometimes supernatural significance. 
 
He explained control over the sun was demonstrated by God in the three-day Plague of Darkness, and is prophesied to be an essential part of the End Times. The Prophet Joel (2:31) predicted, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” The Prophet Amos makes a similar prediction: “And in that day – declares my God – I will make the sun set at noon, I will darken the earth on a sunny day.” 
 
The timing of Joel 2:31 is AT LEAST 2 1/2 YEARS AFTER THE START OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Mark Biltz has a history of false prophetic interpretations and I have denounced him for his views on this April 8th eclipse and several of his previous errors related to blood moons.

Then he gets to Michael Snyder and his crap that he calls out and then adds his own absurdities about the cross:

And then there is Michael Snyder. He is not prone to make the same type of false statements and predictions that Mark Biltz has done. But while he often has good points, Michael Snyder has a tendency to misunderstand many aspects of Bible prophecy as well as to point to matters that are not significant, suggesting that they are. Related to this solar eclipse, he posted the following: 
 
Have You Heard About The 2 Gigantic Crosses That Stand At The Intersections Of The Eclipses? 

April 
 
Something truly extraordinary is going to happen as the Great American Eclipse of 2024 passes over the United States, and hardly anyone is talking about it. … 
 
A 111 foot tall cross stands where the path of the Great American Eclipse of 2024 will intersect with the path of the Great American Eclipse of 2017 on April 8th. 
 
And a cross that is 77 feet and 7 inches tall stands where the path of the Great American Eclipse of 2024 will intersect with the path of the “ring of fire” solar eclipse of 2023 on April 8th. 
 
Is it just a coincidence that 2 giant crosses stand at the intersections of these eclipses? 
 
I don’t think so. 
 
I believe that only God could have orchestrated this. … 
 
Ultimately, I am entirely convinced that the Great American Eclipse of 2024 is meant to point us to Jesus and the cross, but the vast majority of the population seems to be completely missing that point.
 
First of all, no I do not believe that God orchestrated this eclipse so it would intersect with those crosses nor “that the Great American Eclipse of 2024 is meant to point us to Jesus and the cross.” 
 
Among other reasons, the cross is not a true Christian symbol–it was not used by early Christians–but something adopted from paganism that became popular during and after the reign of the sun-worshiping Emperor Constantine in the 4th century.

Instead of calling out Snyder for this craziness, the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu has to throw in his moronic twist on the symbol of the cross. 

The Great Bwana Bob Mzungu despises the cross and everything it represents and that was accomplished by it. He despises the cross because it represents the Righteousness of God, the self-righteousness of his own self, and his inability to do what is right no matter how hard he tries or claims he has succeeded. The Great Bwana Bob has always placed himself foremost in front of Jesus as the end-time great revealer and authority on EVERYTHING, especially prophecy. No human Church of God leader has ever been more prophetically accurate than he. Salvation is only through the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu and his improperly named "'continuing' church of a lesser god".

It is because of hosers like Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Ron Weinland, Gerald Flurry, and others, that no one cares what they say anymore, even if there might be some half-truth/truth embedded in their statements.