Rick Shabi: Responding to unexpected trials and other musings

 

United Church of God recently voted out Rick Shabi as President of the church. It came as a shock to many in the UCG. His detractors are quick to point out that all Presidents have to go through the same "vetting" process every 3 years to see if they will have their presidency extended, so it should be no concern if anyone is not asked to return, so everyone should stop whining. Of course it should be pointed out that there was MUCH prayer and fasting that went into this demotion, if you really believe that.

It apparently came as a shock to Shabi as he writes about the ordeal but couches it in such a way that all UCG members need to live with unexpected diversions in their lives and or bumps along the way. Only by surviving ordeals can one prove to God that they are loyal to the truth once delivered. All of these trials make the United Church of God one united body. Whatever that is.

There is a lot to be read into his comments below:

From the President…

Greetings brethren around the world, 

 

It is a pleasure to be able to write to you from the home office, especially having had the opportunity to meet so many of you over the last few years. Indeed, we are a worldwide family whom God has called and is in the process of making us one. 

Yet, almost 30 years alter they STILL are not one.  

During our lives, there are things that come about that we may not understand now. Some have had unexpected early deaths in their families, others have had serious health issues that forever altered their lives, others have had businesses or homes just taken away. 

 

We may question why at times, but through it all we learn to have faith and know God is in control. When we go through tests or trials, God is looking at what is in our hearts. Ultimately, it is our hearts that God is most concerned with. 

 

How do we respond to unexpected trials? How do we handle setbacks in our lives? And what are the real motives in our hearts? In Psalm 139:23, David asked God to search his heart. As we approach Passover, do we ask that of ourselves? And when going through trials, do we wait for God, as David says (Psalm 27:14) or do we take matters into our own hands? 

What would the Church of God do if everything were not a "pre-Passover trial"? This excuse has been thrown about so many times it carries no weight any more. Remember, the god of Armstrongism has given Satan, the great tempter and trial maker extraordinaire, the most powerful position in the church. He/It welds the power because Jesus has never been let out of his box where the church has kept him securely confined in that mystical land of "someplace".

God is watching us all. We are in a training program for eternity, and only those who truly put their faith in Him and look and trust in Him will be there when Christ returns. Jeremiah 17:10says: “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

If you follow basic Christian understanding, we have all been found wanting, but Christ has justified, redeemed and sanctified his followers. It's not an endless training program to see who gets a passing grade and who doesn't.  

As we are just six weeks from Passover, when we appear before God having examined ourselves and done the necessary preparation, so we may take the Passover in a worthy manner, keep that scripture in mind, and another one like it that we find in Proverbs 3:5-6, which I have quoted regularly over the past few weeks. 

"done the necessary preparation"? What? This just goes to show how little the church really understands the New Covenant. COG Jesus is still confined to his room, out of view, where he watches them all with hidden cameras to see who is doing the most work and striving the hardest. Gold stars are ready at his fingertips to place on the redemption chart next to him (for those who qualify, of course).

 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

That trust in the Lord has not worked too well for UCG since its inception. Division and rebellion has been its hallmark.

Shabi continues:

Thank you 

 

Let me thank all of you for the very gracious and kind emails, texts and phone calls you have sent my way in light of the Council’s decision not to renew me to a second term as president of the United Church of God. Much has been accomplished in moving the work forward during my first term, and my prayer is that the work will continue with vigor, zeal and boldness—always keeping Christ’s commission in mind, always following His lead. Jesus Christ is the head of His Church. 

 

Many have asked if I will continue doing the Biblical Worldview (BW) episodes. The answer is yes. Those will continue, as the Council has asked me to do (and I am happy to do so). Expect a new BW next week. We live in a world that is quickly changing, and it is imperative we continue to preach the gospel and warn the world of what is to come. 

 

Many have asked if I will continue the weekly Wednesday evening Zoom Bible Studies that we have been doing since 2020. The answer is also yes. Even after we relocate from Cincinnati, we will continue with those studies for the many who join us each week. Those have been a joy to do, and it is wonderful to have so many from so many places join us online each week. If you would ever like to join, you can find the link, and all past Bible Studies, at www.ucg.org/congregations/home-office-bible-study.

It will be interesting to see how long UCG puts up with this before they put the brakes on him for drawing too much of a following. We have seen that happen in every CG splinter group since the great apostasy. 

Pre-Passover daily Bible reading program 

As I close this letter for this week, let me bring your attention to a Bible reading program we have assembled which will lead us with scriptures each week up to Passover and through the First Day of Unleavened Bread. 

 

Beginning tomorrow (Friday, March 7), a link to the reading program for each day of each week will be available on the home page of UCG.org. Please see the full announcement about it below.
The program begins in Exodus as God prepares Moses and the people of Israel for their departure from Egypt, then progresses into the epistles where we are admonished what to “put out” of our lives then “put in” as we eat of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Then, the New Testament scriptures that speak of Christ’s days and words leading to His final Passover on earth, remind us of His love for all mankind and His desire for us to be “one.” 

Instead of focusing on Galatians, Hebrews, and the redemptive qualities of the New Covenant and what it has already accomplished for them, they still look backwards at all of the cucumbers, leeks, and garlic, placing their focus on things past and the law that kept them as slaves in a classroom under a schoolmaster.  

It will be pleasing to God and unifying for His people, all over the world, to be reading, meditating and examining ourselves in light of the scriptures we read each day. The word of God is unifying—if we read it, heed it and apply it into our lives. My prayer is that we all do this and strive to come together as one, bringing glory to God’s name as we live our individual and collective lives.
Take care, brethren. Our thoughts and prayers are with and for all of you. 

 

In Christ’s service,
Rick Shabi

As real life Christians are currently being slaughtered in Syria, with men, women and children crucified on crosses, being brutally murdered while being told to crawl and bark like dogs, COG leaders and far too many members think they need to be "one" and loyal to a certain COG splinter group or leader. Today's COG groups have no idea what being a real follower of Jesus is. Maybe instead of focusing upon oneself this "passover season" focus upon what being a real follower of Jesus entails and ask yourself if you are really ready to die for him or that it is more important to you to have strength to remain as "one" in order to please your group leaders?

Armstrongism has proven one thing over and over again, the hundreds of splinters have never been one and never will be.

Why is there such a lack of empathy in the Churches of God?

 

The following was on Exit and Support Network from a former LCG young adult. I could go on and on about similar issues in various COG groups, including the old Worldwide Church of God and the complete lack of empathy that they all exhibit/ed. The blog has had endless posts about the disrespect that the COG's have towards their followers going on 15 years and they STILL cannot do what is right.

I was a third generation Christian. My grandparents (on both sides) started attending WCG when my parents were children. My parents met as students at Ambassador College. They started attending United (UCG) shortly after Armstrong passed and the whole Grace Communion International controversy started. As a child, I attended multiple WCG splinter groups. When I was in middle school we started attending Living (LCG). I was disfellowshipped during high school. I have family members who still attend. I am in my twenties now and incredibly happy with my life. 

 

I endured physical, emotional, and sexual abuse from my family and the cult members. After I stopped attending, I was stalked by “church” [cult] members on social media and in person. I wish I had someone like me to confide in when I was young. 

 

I was very aware of the hypocrisy and hateful gossip spread amongst WCG members from a young age. For a while, i thought it was just my family. One instance of this that really set my views in stone was when there was a skiing accident at one of the youth camps. A young woman passed away in said accident. Due to the well known negativity surrounding her family, there were adults and teens saying they were glad she had died and hoped her family would learn from her death. I had never witnessed such a lack of empathy and remorse from a group of people calling themselves godly.

I started internally questioning why men in leadership roles were also supporting this negativity. Well respected parents with ordained titles who have children the young woman’s age saying her parents DESERVED to experience this loss. And then those same people would turn around and speak about “loving thy neighbor.” 

 

This same instance with different topics happened time and time again. I got sick of it quite quickly when I recognized the pattern. After speaking up about this amongst peers and eventually adults, I was disfellowshipped for spreading “bad gossip” and dishonoring the ordained. I was told to stop, apologize, and repent, but I said no.

"Taking Responsibility for My Own Choices"

Taking Responsibility for My Own Choices

In the course of this blog's existence, I have been sharply critical of the leadership and theology of the Armstrong Churches of God. Now, I still believe that all of those criticism were valid and deserved. Nevertheless, in the discussions that have been generated here and on other blogs in which I have participated, the question of my own culpability in my entrapment in this cult has arisen a number of times.

First, I want to say that I embrace that as a valid question, and one that a person of real integrity is bound to consider and to offer some response. Having accepted the question, I want to acknowledge immediately that I do accept a large share of the responsibility for my involvement in Armstrongism. If that surprises any of my fellow survivors, it might warrant a little introspection on your own part!

The PLAIN TRUTH is that I was intellectually lazy and did NOT do my due diligence! In short, taking a so-called college level Bible Correspondence Course, reading the Bible and a bundle of booklets and articles on various doctrinal issues did NOT constitute a comprehensive, objective, or critical review of the information available to me. I allowed someone to feed me a pre-packaged, highly subjective interpretation of the Bible. Looking back, it is clear that I accepted the inferior research of others simply because it sounded superficially plausible in explaining a very complicated reality. In other words, while I was definitely interested and looking for answers, I was not willing to do the deep dive necessary to arrive at an informed conclusion.

Sure, it is easier for folks now than it was back in the day. We didn't have the internet at our fingertips, and it is a tremendous resource in the right hands for ferreting out truth. Even so, I cannot escape that realization in the back of my mind that tells me I should have known better. I also have to admit to myself that it did feel good to think that I was privy to inside information that wasn't available to everyone. The allure of being in on the big secret exerted a powerful influence on my ego/vanity!

Over time, I also allowed those master manipulators to place me in a mental straitjacket. I stopped thinking for myself. I stopped asking questions, researching, and seeking answers to the big questions. I allowed myself to be convinced that such curiosity would lead me to the Dark Side of the Force - that I would make myself vulnerable to losing the "truth" and salvation which I thought that I had found! Looking back, it is clear that I also ignored a great deal of evidence over the years which contradicted the interpretations that I had accepted so enthusiastically!

Yes, there were plenty of occasions for me to reject Armstrongism over the years, but I continued to dismiss or ignore the warning signs that things were amiss. I knew that racism was wrong, and I majored in the history of the United States and Britain in college. The evidence was right in front of me that Anglo-Israelism was completely absurd - that what I had already learned had completely and thoroughly discredited the heresy. Looking back now, I have to say that my excuses for taking as long as I did to emerge from the delusion of Armstrongism look pretty weak and pathetic in hindsight!

The point of this post? NEVER allow yourself to be satisfied. Continue to look, explore, question, research, and learn. Also, listen to your own conscience and invite the Holy Spirit to help you in your search for answers and understanding. Do NOT go and dig in the earth and bury the "treasure" which you believe has been entrusted to you. Jesus Christ, your Savior and mine, made it very clear that he expected his disciples to increase/multiply what he had entrusted to them!

Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix