Living Church of God member writes about Sardis/Philadelphia eras and why the church proclaims the Bible yet treats members like dirt

Note:  While I may or may not agree with many of the things said below I am making good on my offer for LCG members to have a space to share their concerns.  LCG members/former members now make up a significant percentage of the readership here. We have allowed them space to share their concerns and disappointments in the leadership and direction of the church.


From a Living Church of God member: ...I am a Living Church of God member who would like anonymously to post a couple of articles that I think many of your readers might find interesting because they are entirely based in Scripture and because they are completely contrary to what was pounded into church members for decades.  I think they help explain some of why the church(es) proclaim what is in the Bible but at the same time treat people like dirt.

Is the Living Church of God the fulfillment 

of the Sardis church description?

The Worldwide Church of God claimed to be the fulfillment of the Revelation 3 description of the faithful church era, so does every one of the hundreds of offshoots from that church.  Have any of them actually taken the time to compare themselves to what the actual Scriptures actually say?  Let's take a look at what the actual Scriptures actually say and compare them to the actual facts.

Revelation 3:1 states: "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, 'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: " I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead."

Here we have a very specific clue - the name.  In sermon #964, Gerald Weston mentions that the originally, Mr. Meredith had wanted to incorporate under the name "Church of the Living God", however that was unavailable for some reason, and so the name was chosen as "Living Church of God".  Those are two entirely different connotations, and the one fits precisely with the name that is "alive" in Rev. 3:1.  Mr. Armstrong claimed that the Church of God, Seventh Day was the Sardis church era, however, that is simply not a name that is "alive" in the same way that Living Church of God IS a name that is alive.  The facts and the Scripture match.

Verse 2 of Rev. 3 gives a warning that there are problems in the church that are not being fixed.  Verse 3 gives a description of what is wrong, "Remember how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent...."  Here we see what the problem is: the era has forgotten how it heard and received and does not repent. 

How does a person received the truth?  A person must be humble and teachable, as Christ illustrated by using the example of a little child (Matt. 18:2-4, Mark 9:37, Luke 9:48).  When the crowd heard Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost they realized they had sinned and were given the instruction to repent (Acts 2:37-38), and they did.  Receiving the truth involves being humble and teachable, and that doesn't only apply to someone "new in the faith", but to everyone at all times.  Even the apostles, after the coming of the Holy Spirit sinned (Gal 2:11-13) and had things they needed to learn (Phil. 4:11-12).

To receive the truth it is required to repent, and repentance will not be accepted without also forgiving others (Matt. 6:14-15).  Repentance without forgiveness is of zero value (Matt 18:21-35).  I fear for the ministers who have issued unfair punishments to church members (James 2:13).  While I understand that there are times when discipline must be administered, it must be done in accordance with the Scriptures (Matt. 18:15-17) and it must be for Scriptural reasons or otherwise established clear rules, not simply some unexplainable cause.  There also must be no partiality involved (Deut. 1:17, 16:19, James 2:1-9). 

Unfortunately, the Living Church of God falls very short in these areas.  If you have been treated badly by the Living Church of God and read the open letter from the Scarborough's, you probably read a playbook of the way you were treated as well - accused and then shutdown and cut off in spite of clear evidence of innocence or underlying circumstances.  While no one is perfect, the harshness often dealt out is often in far disproportion to the alleged infraction, and no amount of apology is ever accepted or even acknowledged, it is simply the opinion of the minister that reigns supreme.  In Mr. Meredith's live webcast on Dec. 24, 2016, he stated that if someone in church has a problem and they bring it to the leadership that they will listen.  But here is what most often actually happens: If someone has an issue with a minister and they bring the problem to the church leadership, they will initially listen to the person, then ask the minister in question what his version is, and then side with the minister.  If there are further attempts by the individuals to be heard they will be ignored or kicked out.  The clear evidence, facts of the matter, multiple witnesses, or Scripture become completely irrelevant, all that the church leadership seems to care about is their authority being upheld.  I'm not just basing this on the Scarborough's letter, I know it from seeing others get treated the same way.  I knew one individual who asked repeatedly why they were being punished and tried to apologize for everything they could think of only to have their apology turned around and used as "evidence" against them.  I knew another individual who was issued a punishment and when they asked the HQ minister sent to review the case why they were being punished, he simply said he didn't know - but that didn't stop him from enforcing the punishment (get this: he flew all the way from Living Church HQ to review a case, and didn't know why the person was being punished).  The lack of forgiveness and lack of repentance certainly fits with the description of Rev. 3:3.

Pointing out Scripture to a minister is also treading on very thin ice.  I'm not talking about an obscure verse somewhere or vague prophecy, I'm talking about multiple verses that essentially back up common sense.  Things such as getting all the facts before judging a matter (Deut. 13:14,17:4, 6, 19:15-18, Matt. 18:15-17, I Tim. 5:19) not listening to here-say or gossip, and so on.  If a minister is transgressing in these areas, to point it out is to ask for retribution, whereas it should be the opposite (Pro. 9:8, 15:31, 17:10), the ministry should be especially glad to adhere closely to Scriptural guidance.  This know-it-all attitude is the opposite of how a person receives and hears the truth and is a fulfillment of Rev. 3:3.  The facts and the Scripture match.

Concerning the "works" that are mentioned.  The Living Church of God acts as if the only definition of the word "work" is preaching the gospel and that doing so somehow gives a pass to any other wrongdoing that is going on.  That is simply not the case, "works" are what a person does (Gal. 3:19-21, James 2:14).  Preaching the gospel to the world is a base requirement of God's church (Mark 16:15, I Cor. 9:16), it does not earn extra credit or cover for sins (Pro. 10:12, Luke 17:10, I Pet. 4:8).

Continuing on in verse 3 of Rev. 3, "...Therefore if you will not watch,..."  Watch what, world news?  Is that what it is talking about?  No, refer back to verse 2, it is talking about watching and strengthening the qualities that are dying.  It's about watching the self and personally overcoming, repenting, and so on.  Seeing the exact world actors and timing that are due to fulfill prophetic events is worthless without a foundation of Godly love (I Cor. 13:2), which is based on following His law (John 14:15, 15:10, I John 2:4, 5:2-3).

The penalty for "not watching" is, "...I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I come upon you."  As is made clear in many Bible prophecy areas and is examined in many church of God books on the subject, there are many signs that precede Christ's return, years of them, in fact.  Christ isn't going to sneak back and surprise people.  But Christ returning is not the only way that He can "come upon" a person, as is made clear in the Ezekiel warning (Ezek. 3:18-21).  If a person dies before Christ's return, then Christ has essentially come as far as that person is concerned.  Also, considering that there are many signs prior to Christ's return, and yet He indicates that He will sneak up on this church era, it seems that this church era will not be in existence at His return.  There have been many churches of God over the centuries that have flourished and then vanished, the Scripture seems to indicate that the Sardis era, exemplified by the Living Church of God, will be no different.

Rev. 3:4 states, "You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy."  This statement should stand as a very stark warning for the church, note that it is not the "many" who have not defiled their garments, but the "few".  The church leadership who thinks they have a place in the kingdom assured and yet go around oppressing the members had better think again.  Hophni and Phineas and the Pharisees all held positions of leadership as well and they certainly didn't gain automatic admission into the kingdom because of it (I Cor. 10:12).  And members who aren't repentant, forgiving, and actively making changes in their lives to better get along with others and serve God had better beware also.

Rev. 3:5 states, "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."  This verse tells the seriousness of not overcoming - he who does not overcome will not be clothed in white and will be blotted out from the Book of Life.  This is how serious it is to be humble, teachable, repentant, and forgiving.  Ceasing from those things will lead to loss of salvation.

The conclusion in Rev. 3:6 says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  The admonition is to look at what is said to all the churches, not just the ones you think apply to you.

It is my hope that the Living Church of God leadership will read this and cease from the harshness and partiality that is so rampant.  If the Living Church leadership doesn't want their church described as a "minister's club", then stop making it into one.  It is my prayer that the Scripture will be followed, not just taught.  It would be nice to see some openness and honesty for a change.

Anonymous

Scriptural evidence of why Worldwide Church of God 

was not the Philadelphian era of the church.

The Worldwide Church of God was measurably the largest and most influential church of God in the history of the churches of God.  With mailing lists of some 8 million and church attendance in the hundreds of thousands, the size of the church dwarfed any previous church of God by magnitudes.  With the invention of radio and television, the preaching of the gospel went out in ways previously unimaginable to people around the world.  The economies of scale allowed printed magazines to be distributed widely.  This ability to preach the gospel in such a dramatic manner left little doubt to Mr. Armstrong about which church era he was head of - obviously, he had the "open door" of Rev. 3:8, and therefore simply must be the manifestation of the Philadelphian era.  Now that we have the advantage of being able to look back in time, does that assertion still hold true?  

Mr. Armstrong had identified the Church of God, Seventh Day as being the "Sardis Era", however, the name certainly doesn't fit the description.  His reasoning was that since they had lost much of the truth and did not have a zeal to preach the gospel, that they were figuratively a "dead" church.  Also, since Worldwide was "obviously" the Philadelphian era, this had to be the case.  But does it fit with history and Scripture?  If you read the books on church of God history, you will find a repeated pattern which goes something like this: Revival - Growth - Apostasy - Collapse.  Simply skim through the book by Mr. Ogwyn on the subject and you will find this over and over again, especially during the vast span of time identified as the "Thyatira era".  Although Mr. Armstrong could not know it at the time, the church he raised up would follow that exact same pattern.

If you have read the article comparing the Living Church of God to the description in Revelation 3 of the Sardis church, you will have some of the premise and additional evidence of Worldwide not being Philadelphian due to time sequence.

So let's look at the actual Scriptures and the actual facts starting in Rev. 3:7:

"And to the angel of this church in Philidelphia write; These things says He who is Holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens:"

In sermon number 974, Mr. Gerald Weston notes correctly that this verse is a description of Christ (not the church) and that it is a quotation from Isaiah 22:22.  He also repeats Mr. Rod Meredith's frequent assertion that ""David" means government".  Is that what this Scripture is saying?  The passage in Isaiah 22:15-23 refers to someone who has a key to king Davids house, they have control over who is allowed to enter.  This in no way is speaking about a type of governmental structure as has been frequently asserted, the context simply does not support it.  The description is of Christ as having the key, it is Him who has control over who enters the King's house and who doesn't. 

Rev. 3:8 "I know your works.  See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name."

First of all, "works" are simply what a person does, it does not refer to any one specific thing such as preaching the gospel (Gen. 2:2-3, I Cor. 3:13-15, II Thess 3:8, Titus 2:7).  Christ is simply saying He knows what this era is doing.  

Mr. Armstrong read this verse and referenced the other places in the Bible where a "door" is used to mean an opening to preach the gospel (I Cor. 16:9, II Cor. 2:12, Col. 4:3) and concluded that this meant that the Philadelphian era would have a large opening to preach the gospel.  This interpretation combined with the overwhelming magnitude of the preaching of the gospel by Worldwide led to his "obvious" conclusion.  But is that conclusion correct?  All of Worldwide and all the offshoots claims of "Philadelphianess" depend on the correct meaning of the "open door" in this verse. 

Of primary importance, let's consider the context of this statement about the "open door".  The Greek word translated "door" appears 39 times in the New Testament, but only three of them clearly allude to preaching the gospel.  The previous verse was describing Christ as having the power to open or close an entrance and here we see a door open to this group of people.   Considering that there is no criticism to this group of people, it is a fitting reward that they would be allowed into God's house.  To paraphrase the two verses in regards the door: "7 Christ has the key to the house 8 and He has opened the door to you."  Where in the two verses is there anything that alludes to the "open door" as pertaining to the gospel?  It isn't there any more than there is Christmas is in Matthew 2!  The word "door" also appears in verse 20, but no one contends that it is referring to preaching the gospel due to context.  Well, the context of verses 7-8 doesn't support it either.  The claims of Mr. Meredith that the Living Church of God is the "Philadelphian remnant" rest entirely on the "open door" of verse 8 having to do with the preaching of the gospel, but the context clearly does not support it!  (Furthermore, where in the Scripture is there any mention of a "Philadelphian remnant"?)

I am not saying that preaching the gospel is not the duty of a Christian church, it certainly is, but I am saying that using that as the defining characteristic of the Philadelphian era does not fit with the context of the Scripture.  Both Worldwide and Living church have blasted other churches for taking Scriptures out of context, but isn't that really what has happened here?  The concept of the preaching of the gospel as defining the Philadelphian church has been a constant for decades, but how does the Scriptural reference back that up?  I know many will simply insist on that definition "because Mr. Armstrong said so" and it is in keeping with church tradition, however, what did Christ say about traditions that were not according to the Scripture (Matt. 15:3-6, 9, Mark 7:8-9, Col. 2:8)?  He was not impressed.  This is very important, look at what the words of Scripture actually say!

Continuing along in verse 8, the description continues that this church era has kept Christ's word and did not deny His name.  Did Worldwide do that?  Did it uphold the Bible and keep to it's teachings?  Of course not, it dropped the teachings and went right into protestantism.  Even when Mr. Armstrong was alive there were many leaders who broke away and took members with them right into heresy.  Corruption grew up frequently that he had to deal with, he even had to put his own son out of the church.  Before his death the seeds had already been planted that would attempt to wipe away everything he had taught within just a few years after his death.  It is hard to look at all that and describe it as a church that held fast to the Scripture, in fact, it is impossible.  

Verse 9 can only be fulfilled after Christ's return.  Verse 10 indicates that this church era will be protected from the "hour of trial" which is assumed to be the great tribulation, although that term isn't found elsewhere in the Bible.  If that assumption is correct, then this church era must exist before and during that time.  There is nothing here about it existing in fullness and then dwindling to a remnant for which this part is fulfilled.  If protection is due to being already in the grave, then there is nothing special about this church era's protection, as the majority of Christians are already in the grave.  The reward of protection is due to persevering, but it is not specific in exactly what.  Did Worldwide church persevere?  It no longer even exists!

In verse 11 Christ says He is coming quickly and to hold on to the crown that is given.  Although "quick" to us and "quick" to God are different things, Christ does say He is coming quickly to this era, which further indicates its existence at His return.  Worldwide church no longer exists, and many of those who were associated with it at its beginning are no longer alive.

So since Worldwide was not the Philadelphian era, what was it?   Well if the eras are sequential and Living church is Sardis (see the other article for that), then let's look at the description of Thyatira and see if it matches.

As with all the eras, the first line part describes some attribute of Christ.  Verse 19 starts the description of the church:

:19 I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience [perseverance]; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.

Here there are several positive traits listed and then one that is very interesting - that the last works are more than the first.  When it comes to churches of God through history to the present, there isn't any that surpass Worldwide in size, influence, or recognition.  This church very clearly had far more "works" than any of the others, printing more literature, and using means and methods not even imagined in the previous centuries.  Was Worldwide the end of the Thyatira era?  They certainly had more works than any before them: the description fits.  They also, more so early on than later, had an approach of love, service, and faith.  When Mr. Armstrong "put the church back on track", those attributes were not really restored to what they had been before.

20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

The Jezebel of the Bible was a huge promoter of pagan religion, and in this context it seems that the "sexual immorality" mentioned probably has to do with dabbling in false religious ideas.  Did some in the leadership of Worldwide church ever dabble in false christianity?  During the church wide fast and live broadcast from Living church HQ Mr. Weston mentioned that there were ministers in Worldwide who quietly kept Christmas.  The various "theology projects" that took place also had leanings toward false religious practice.  

And what is "eating things sacrificed to idols"?  That is to take something that is fine of and by itself, but has been tainted by its use in pagan practice (Acts 15:29, I Cor. 10:28).  A very clear example of this is the use of Masonic lodges to hold church services in, which was extremely prevalent during the time of Worldwide.  The Masonic practices are clearly rooted in paganism and their buildings always contain symbols and idols, and yet that is where Holy Days were kept, in the midst of rooms containing idols!  Clearly, this description fits.

Verse 21 indicates that the church was given time to repent and didn't.  This brings to mind the time in the '70s when Mr. Armstrong "put the church back on track".  It was not "back on track" as was plainly evidenced over the next decades.  The church as a whole did not repent.

Verse 22 indicates that the church era and those associated with it will be in "great tribulation", which means that the church era will be around at that time.  How is indicated in verse 23 which indicates that this church era produces "children".  Just as the great false church produces children (Rev. 17:5), so does the Thyatira era of God's church, and with hundreds of churches springing from the collapse of Worldwide, this fits the description.  This may also tie in with Rev. 12:17 as being among the ones that Satan is allowed to pursue.

Verse 24 describes there being no "other burden" being placed on those who do not have the false doctrine.  It appears that the main trial of this era of the church is to resist the pull of false doctrine.  Did Worldwide resist the pull of false doctrine?  Pretty clearly, it didn't, not at it's demise, and not during its span.

The balance of the passage gives a list of rewards to the over-comers and an admonishment to hold fast, as with all the eras.  The easily obtainable facts and the clear portions of Scripture seem to line up pointing to Worldwide as not being the Philadelphian era but the last hurrah of the Thyatira era.  Mr. Armstrong could not have known at the time what the perspective would be thirty or so years after his death, but now the situation is very apparent.  This pretty well explains the corruption and mistreatment that so many were subjected to over the course of Worldwide's existence and the churches that sprang from it.  Far from being the era which was given no reproach, it was an era mixed with corruption, as so many readers of this website witnessed with their own eyes.

I am sorry for all of the people who were treated disdainfully by individuals who claimed to represent God.  Their conduct is blasphemous even more if they are among the leadership.  Those who think that being in "the right church" and "preaching the gospel" remove any obligation to treat people with decency have completely missed the main point of God's way of life that they claim to profess.  They way that people are treated like garbage and thrown out without a second thought is an absolute disgrace, and the complete opposite of what God's word clearly spells out.

Anonymous

Satan Has Been Busy! He Attacks Bob Thiel AND Living Church of God

Last week Almost-arrested, Elisha, Elijah, Amos, Joshua, Habakkuk, second witless witness, God's African prophet and disappointing "son" of Rod Meredith posted that Satan had attacked his video stream.

Our websites were down for a couple of hours last Sabbath because of some type of, what we think, was a robotic attack that filled up storage space. While we have protection for that in certain places, this particular attack succeeded for a time. But this was noted and corrected. We do not think this was a humanly deliberate attack against us, but Satan was probably more directly behind it. We also upgraded some aspects of the websites Sunday, which also made them temporarily unavailable. But the websites have been functioning fine since.

Now Gerald Weston is claiming Satan attacked LCG's recent nearly flawless transmission. Satan did this to "create havoc" in the LCG.  I think Germano, Lil'Jimmy and others have been doing a fine job of that without Satan's help.

From an LCG source:

March 23, 2017

By Gerald Weston

Greetings from Charlotte, We received many very positive reports from last week’s live transmission. The Television and Internet Departments, along with the translators for Spanish and French, did a wonderful job. Because of a few glitches that occurred prior to transmission, and the near flawless transmission itself, it is evident to me that Satan wanted to create havoc, but Christ intervened, stopped him, and turned the Sabbath into a great success. We can safely say that approximately 5,500 members and families watched the service live. For those congregations that were not able to receive the live sermon, please see instructions below on how you can still view it. The Tomorrow’s World Presentation in Cape Town, South Africa was attended by 233 guests and 47 members, for a total of 280. In all, we had 341 guests attend the three TWPs in South Africa these past two weeks. Dr. Winnail returned from his visit with encouraging reports regarding the South African congregations and their leaders. Mr. Paul Shumway reported on a very profitable visit he and Mr. Damian Weekes had to Guyana and Brazil. His report reads like the Apostle Paul’s journeys found in the book of Acts. Your prayers for these faithful but scattered brethren, some of whom live under trying circumstances, are greatly appreciated. In my weekly visit with Dr. Meredith, he again mentioned how encouraging the cards from members, and even individuals not in our fellowship, are to him. Mr. Ames is doing well overall, but it is going to take some time for him to regain his full strength. Please remember both of these men in your prayers.—GEW

The LCG source writes:

Is it just me or does Gerald sound completely insane?! And there's no way they had 5500 watchers. Notice how he tries to make it sound like 5500+ their families. In reality, it wasn't likely even 5500 INCLUDING every man woman and baby on a sleeping mat!

Do I have the ability to separate real Christians from God?

A reader here sent the following comment in:

it's so ironic that you think that you make christians who are trying really hard to please God look bad on your website, to any christian who has Jesus Christ living in them it is actually you who looks worse and worse with every post that you put online.

nobody can seperate christians from the love of God and their fellows, bet you thought you could lead alot of people into darkness. Because that is all that this website exudes, darkness and hatred against christians. Why dont you write some of this stuff about some muslims? Oh thats right you are to afraid of those.

You have used your ability to write for evil.

My response:

I have no beef with Christians who really practice their faith and do good works. There is no way I can attack anyone who is secure in their faith, If I were able to do that then they have no idea what they believe. Just look at the COG with its hundreds and hundreds of splinter personality cults with members following vain and narcissistic leaders who lie and deceive them. If these people were secure in their beliefs, there would be no need to see thousands of church members jump ship from one group to the next because they cannot find fulfillment in what they think is right. Twenty some years of church hopping proves that.

If you were secure in your faith you would have no problem whatsoever in reading about how some churches and leaders prey on their people. You would immediately recognize some of the traits mentioned in the article that your present day leader may be exhibiting.

A secure person in their faith has no problem reading and studying about opposing viewpoints. A secure person in faith would have no problem reading about evolution, how cults work, the new covenant, or even talking about Jesus. Atheist and agnostic viewpoints would not disturb you but make you seek to find common ground where respect resides.

If you actually understood the new covenant, grace, justification, sanctification, and Jesus, you would realize that you do not need to continually "try" to please God. Any Christian who has Jesus living in them realizes this. You are right that a real Christian can never be separated from God, but look at the trail of bodies and broken lives left in the wake of Armstrongism. God certainly is NOT pleased at how COG leaders have separated them from him.

As a regular church goer there is nothing what I do here that exudes darkness and hatred towards Christians. The darkness and hatred drips from the fingertips and the mouths of the sick and perverted COG leaders who lie and deceive their followers into believing perverted and twisted truths they claim God has revealed to them in dreams or in some kind of revelation. How has Meredith, Pack, Thiel, Flurry, Kubik and others made real Christians? How did Herbert Armstrong make any REAL Christians? Why do they enslave their members with the law? Why do self-appointed dreaming liars pretend to be God’s instruments? Why do liars claim God has revealed an additional second millennium to them where Jesus comes to visit in Ohio before he goes to Jerusalem?

As for the Muslims I have absolute NO FEAR from any of them. In fact, I know several personally. Do you?

UPDATED: Michael Germano, President of Largest University in the United States Reads Banned!

What an awesome thing to find out that the President of the largest University in the United States is a reader of Banned!  Imagine that!  Who knew!!!!!

Michael Germano, President of the most important "university" in the United States if not the entire world follows Banned, so much so that he did not like us picking on the Living Church of God apostate, Almost-arrested Elisha, Elijah, Amos, Joshua, Habakkuk, second witless witness and disappointing "son" to Rod Meredith.  Dennis really needs to stop picking on poor innocent Bob.  Shame on you, GET A LIFE!!!!!!

Mind you that this criticism is coming from a man who claims to be loyal to Rod Meredith, the man who Bob Thiel has criticized and who claims to be blind to Bob's "truths."  So much for ones loyalty to ones boss!  When Rod Meredith criticized Almost-arrested Thiel I never saw Germano complaining.

While I admit we pick on James Malm as equally as we do Elisha Thiel, I have to admire James for sticking to his convictions, no matter how much anyone disagrees with them.  Deep down I know that James does have a concern for those he sees as lacking in zeal and are being led astray by false COG leaders.  I don't agree with his stance, but he is actually a man of his word.   Michael Germano, not so much.

Anyone one that was around through the turbulent 1990's and the doctrinal upheavals saw first hand the duplicity of Germano.

Consider Germnao's letter to the Worldwide News dated May 9, 1995:

The encouraging comments from our ministry all across the nation have been inspiring to my wife, Brenda, and me. It seems that each person had his or her own personal struggle in coming to understand what God is leading us collectively to know and do as his children.

Learning is painful; there is nothing easy about it. I used to believe, and preach, that the most difficult aspect of life was child rearing. I have now changed my mind. It is being a Christian.

Thanks to Mr. Tkach's leadership and relationship with God, we have been led by the Spirit of God to come to a deeper, richer, fuller understanding of what it is to be a Christian. The understanding appears to be wholly of the Spirit. When the veil is removed, all comes into place. Spiritual renewal is being worked out in a powerful and wonderful way throughout the Church.

At Ambassador University we have some on the faculty (both lay members and ministers) who have not been able to see or accept the
New Covenant understanding. The majority of the faculty, however, have and are deeply thrilled and excited about the new understanding. Some faculty and students have decided that they will work in active opposition. This is sad, but each person has come to his or her decision.

All of our children and their mates remain loyal to God's Church and work as it is administered by Mr. Tkach. I believe that by the early summer the Ambassador University community will all be of one mind once again, and we can go forward with the wonderful work that lies ahead. It is going to be a very large and exciting work, and I hope we can all grasp the vision and significance of it.

Our prayers and thoughts are with all our brothers and sisters in Christ—the ministry and the brethren. Please pray for Ambassador University. We love all of you and we know you love us.

Michael and Brenda Germano
Ambassador University

Here is a man who was still being paid by the Worldwide Church of God who proceeded to slobber all over the Tkach administration with one platitude after another.  God was performing the most amazing miracle ever in Christendom and Germano and his wife were proud to be part of it.  That is until Tkach shut down the Big Sandy campus and Germano was out of work.  Then his story started changing.  Grace and spiritual freedom were thrown aside to join up with Rod Meredith where he could once again embrace legalism and bondage.

This is also a man who has been coddling up to accreditation committees seeking to prove to them that the Living Church of God's "college" deserved to be called a "university."  

Universities are typically filled with highly trained and well educated women and men who know their fields of expertise.

Notice what Germano said about these men and women in THOSE universities:

The American academy has been overrun by an evil leftist ideology turning many college and university schools of arts and sciences into citadels of deception and factories of deceit. Many English, anthropology, history and political science departments are staffed with flaming leftists with a very few exceptions. It is almost impossible to find PhD faculty in these disciplines that reflect traditional American values. Their brains have not just been washed but scrubbed clean and reprogrammed. Part of the deception is that academic leftists not only see themselves as the most brilliant, enlightened and balanced people on the planet capable of governing everyone in every context but as moderates. It is impossible to have a reasonable conversation with members of this elite as they have convinced themselves of their indignant, deceptive righteousness. It boils over into lefty religion and includes some well-meaning evangelicals who have been attracted by it. The building of America has taken many generations but it is being shredded. As the saying goes, any old jackass (an appropriate symbol) can kick down a barn but it takes a skilled carpenter to build one.

Once again we see how he wants to be seen as something important in the educational community and then proceeds to smear his fellow educators as "jackasses" in spite of the fact he was educated by these "jackasses."

Michael P. Germano, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, holds earned doctorates from the University of Southern California and the University of La Verne. He completed post-graduate study in anthropology, archaeology, and theology at Southern Methodist University and Texas A&M University at College Station.  Michael P. Germano Bio

On another thread this was posted about how quickly Germano changes with the political religious environment he is associated with:

I saw an early draft of Germano's book on early Christianity in which "Jewish Christians" (as he called them) were the heroes. It was a scholarly, well researched book. Then the new teachings came out and, at a faster speed than I could have imagined, he revised his book to make gentile Christians the heroes. I've seen enough of Germano to know that he can be very likeable but he is also very political and not to be trusted. In 1995 I knew faculty members in Big Sandy who said they would resign if he were named president. 

Now that his recent smear campaign against James Malm has discredited him in the eyes of LCG members, I really have to wonder WHO really needs to GET A LIFE?

COG false prophet EXCITED his prediction that the potential "Beast" of Europe has grown a beard...Seriously!

If you though Almost-arrested Elisha, Elijah, Amos, Habakkuk, Joshua, second witless witness, prophet apostle, future martyr, doubly blessed and disappointing "son" of Rod Meredith, could not get any weirder, then think again,  Elijah Thiel is all a twitter right now that his Bro, Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has grown a beard!  This beard is further "proof" that Guttenberg may end up being the Beast of Revelation.

Seriously, is there no end to the stupidity coming out of Church of God "leaders" any more?  Have they no shame?

The Bible shows that Europe will ultimately turn to a ‘strongman’ of its own in Revelation 17:12-13. 

This may very well be Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. 

Regularly readers of this page are aware that 9 speculative predictions I posted over the years related to Herr Guttenberg have been at least partially fulfilled: 

1. He has advocated more European military cooperation.
2. He became unpopular for a time (and still is among many).
3. He ended up, for a time, outside of political office.
4. He went out of the limelight for a while.
5. He went into exile (self-imposed).
6. His exile was to a humid location.
7. He has partially re-emerged in European politics.
8. He has called for Germany to consider being a leader in data protection.
9. He now has a beard.

Note: He did NOT have a beard when I first posted something that indicated that he could get one. 

Several of those predictions were based upon my understanding of prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation, plus outside sources.

 

LCG Members Are Asking, "Is Michael Germano Turning Into Another Bob Thiel?"

This was on James Malm site this morning.  You know things are bad when people are comparing Germano to Thiel!  LCG watched Bob Thiel have his mental meltdown in the church before he declared him self doubly blessed and started his apostate splinter group. Now LCG members are wondering if Germano is starting to melt down also?

Many in LCG are very concerned that Germano is becoming the next Bob Thiel. He is showing signs of bitterness and rage (some have said because of the re-ordering of the LCG hierarchy) resulting in comments and behavior that is completely at odds with the tone of LCG. While so many CoGs are so very political, taking strong stances on Trump, on tax dollars spent on abortion, on Obamacare etc. with their publications causing a major headache for their congregations abroad (e.g.the UCG in Europe refusing to translate the pro-Trump drivel that came from Don Ward recently so as not to lose their entire congregations), Living Church has consistently proclaimed a higher spiritual message with global relevance with minimal focus on provincial politics. Of recent note was an article by Mark Sandor on rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s, which made the point that once we’ve paid our taxes, it’s not for us to fret about how the govt. uses the money (for war, for Obamacare policies that allow others to have an abortion etc.) However, Germano went off on a highly political Don Ward-like pro-Trump statement that threw a lot of the Living membership, even saying that a national healthcare program would be essentially Satanic. For those in LCG abroad, it was quite a slap that their own church would say they are un-Christian because they participate in such a program. It remains quite bewildering to me, and many others, that how a country chooses to administer its health-care system can be an issue of “Christianity” (UCG-ers in Canada are always offended by the editorial in the Beyond Today magazine which implies frequently that taking tax money to pay into a shared pool for health insurance is a violation of “Thou shalt not steal” because the govt is stealing your money !! (Mike Kelley’s time-worn theme). Perhaps it is the nature and result of the current state of national politics that some of these men are becoming ‘unhinged’, but the CoGs would do well to reign them in before their members run out: one leader who can’t control his daily Twittering is more than enough!

Can the Church Be Psychologically Harmful?

If a former believer says that Christianity made her depressed, obsessive, or post-traumatic, she is likely to be dismissed as an exaggerator. She might describe panic attacks about the rapture; moods that swung from ecstasy about God’s overwhelming love to suicidal self-loathing about repeated sins; or an obsession with sexual purity.

A symptom like one of these clearly has a religious component, yet many people instinctively blame the victim. They will say that the wounded former believer was prone to anxiety or depression or obsession in the first place—that his Christianity somehow got corrupted by his predisposition to psychological problems. Or they will say that he wasn’t a real Christian. If only he had prayed in faith believing or loved God with all his heart, soul and mind, if only he had really been saved—then he would have experienced the peace that passes all understanding.

But the reality is far more complex. It is true that symptoms like depression or panic attacks most often strike those of us who are vulnerable, perhaps because of genetics or perhaps because situational stressors have worn us down. But certain aspects of Christian beliefs and Christian living also can create those stressors, even setting up multigenerational patterns of abuse, trauma, and self-abuse. Also, over time some religious beliefs can create habitual thought patterns that actually alter brain function, making it difficult for people to heal or grow.

The purveyors of religion insist that their product is so powerful it can transform a life, but somehow, magically, it has no risks. In reality, when a medicine is powerful, it usually has the potential to be toxic, especially in the wrong combination or at the wrong dose. And religion is powerful medicine!

In this discussion, we focus on the variants of Christianity that are based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. These include Evangelical and fundamentalist churches, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and other conservative sects. These groups share the characteristics of requiring conformity for membership, a view that humans need salvation, and a focus on the spiritual world as superior to the natural world. These views are in contrast to liberal, progressive Christian churches with a humanistic viewpoint, a focus on the present, and social justice.

Read the entire article here:    Psychological Harms of Bible-Believing Christianity