The Plight of the Follower and Group Think

"The moment you follow someone, you cease to follow Truth,"

Jiddu Krishnamurti

“We are not supposed to all be the same, feel the same, think the same, and believe the same. 

The key to continued expansion of our Universe lies in diversity, 

not in conformity and coercion. 

Conventionality is the death of creation.”

― Anthon St. Maarten,

“The larger the group, the more toxic, the more of your beauty as an individual you have to surrender for the sake of group thought. And when you suspend your individual beauty you also give up a lot of your humanity. You will do things in the name of a group that you would never do on your own. Injuring, hurting, killing, drinking are all part of it, because you've lost your identity, because you now owe your allegiance to this thing that's bigger than you are and that controls you.”

― George Carlin, Last Words

"But the kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will know that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty, and you are poverty. "

Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas

(No wonder it didn't make the cut)

“It was a well-known fact that humans became more addled than usual when running in herds.”
― Jim Butcher, The Aeronaut's Windlass

“There is no need for us all to be alike and think the same way, neither do we need a common enemy to force us to come together and reach out to each other. If we allow ourselves and everyone else the freedom to fully individuate as spiritual beings in human form, there will be no need for us to be forced by worldly circumstances to take hands and stand together. Our souls will automatically want to flock together, like moths to the flame of our shared Divinity, yet each with wings covered in the glimmering colors and unique patterns of our individual human expression.”
― Anthon St. Maarten

“Group Thinking” or lack of courage to ask the tough and strategic questions 
is the chief weakness on Boards today.”
― Pearl Zhu,

LCG: The Joyless Church of God

Sermon summaries are from an LCG source:

Gerald Weston has deep issues with LCG members who talk to COG members in other groups and who might even attend one of their Feast sites for a day or two in order to be with friends. Weston even has a derogatory label for those who do this, they are travellers on the "Highway Church of God."

One of the reasons for this sermon by Weston is that COGWA is starting a congregation in the Charlotte area n June. Many LCG members will be visiting it.  LCG members are already visiting COGWA and UCG Feast sites if they are close by LCG sites. Weston is loosing control and he is not happy. Thus, he has to lecture LCG members on tithing, government and baptism.  To be real baptized LCG member one must SUBMIT to everything that the leadership says and requires, which is far above anything Jesus ever required.

00:21:46

There were seven churches in Asia Minor. Can you imagine Philadelphia and Laodicea, which were at the opposite ends of the valley, that Paul is saying that, ‘Boy, if you’re on one end and you are mostly (because it wasn’t everybody in the congregation, but this was the attitude in one congregation), you can’t fellowship with those people over there,’ how foolish; they’re all the Church of God.

Now, we do need to understand that there are differences out here and we’re not all the same. But to say that one should never, uh, you know, sit down with somebody and have a meal with somebody because they’re of a different group - I don’t think we should just be going back and forth, and this church and that church, and be a, uh, oh this one fellow described it, he was in the, what, the “Highway Church of God” or the uh, something like that. Uh, one week he’d go one place, one week he’d go another place. That’s confusion, and it certainly doesn’t help brand new people who don’t understand all the history and so forth. But we’re just talking about the fact that you can’t even be civil to someone who might be of a different group. I think we need to know why we’re here and be strong in why we’re here, and not go back and forth and to different festival sites and that sort of thing - I think that that shows a lack of understanding.

But at the same time, the point is that it’s talking about the world here in chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians, that we’re to forsake… well we’re, we’re… we’re not to go out of the… of, stop fellowshipping with anybody in the world, in other words, your neighbors. You can be friends with them even if they have a few problems, but as far as the Church goes, if someone is going to be sexually immoral, or an idolater, or covetous, or whatever, then he says those individual, if it’s, you know, a real extreme case there, you put ‘em out. The point I’m trying to make here is that we have to decide where our loyalties are. And Christ says you must put him first above all else.

Anyone who has loyalties to Jesus Christ, would NOT be a Living Church of God member!

Weston also has major issues with LCG members who do NOT respect the GOVERNMENT power structure he has put in place.

1:03:58

Another part of the whole counsel of God is that there are ranks in the ministry. Ephesians 4:11, first apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc. Do we have every one of those at all times? We don’t think so. Mr. Armstrong certainly didn’t think we had prophets at that time. Will there ever be a prophet in the future? Sure, probably. The two witnesses I’d say would be probably prophets. But, right now we understand that there are ranks in the ministry, but because people are so adverse (sic) to GOVERNMENT, they want everybody to be equal. And as, uh, somebody told me one time that was a part of a group that split off from us back in the Kansas City area that first year - another church started, so some people went that direction, and then they split - um, as he said, they have two forms of government. [said with smirking expression] The minister is in charge of the congregation, but on the ministerial level they were all equals because no one wanted to answer to anybody else. You know, this is part of the whole counsel of God. You can’t read Ephesians 4:11 and really do away with the fact that there are different levels within the ministry. And they say, “Well, those are just (what, uh) functions.” Well, you have to decide that, you have to look at it objectively.

Weston then seeks to chastise LCG members who do not tithe in amounts he thinks is required.  Even though it has been proven over and over that tithing is NOT a new covenant command, the current iteration of COG groups DEMAND that their followers tithe in order to keep the hierarchy in its privileged lifestyles.  Apparently, some LCG members are waking up to the fact that the new covenant does not require tithing.  Good for them!

Tithing, as a law, not just a nice principle. I remember going out on the internet - the CompuServe forum, that shows how far back it was. I haven’t been back on any of these forums ever since that time, but for a period of time I was on that and I realized I couldn’t sleep at night because I (always) checked it just before I went to bed, and I’d be so angry that I couldn’t sleep, so I finally had to get rid of it and ditch it. But it was amazing how many people, how many ministers were out there saying that tithing is a nice principle, a good principle, “And oh, I tithe, by the way,” you know, is the way they’d put it, “but it’s not a law of God.” We need to prove these things for ourselves. You need to know WHY you are where you are. And I think that most of us in this room KNOW why we are where we are. That’s why we’re here, that’s why we’re not someplace else. But we need to know those things. These three pillars - knowing that God exists and knowing that the Bible is the Word of God and knowing where the Church is will serve you well through trials, disruptions, and times of confusion. And I’ll be the first to tell you I’ve had to go through those pillars time and again. You can’t be in the Church of God for 50 years or more and not, at times, have to go back through it. And I’m not afraid of going back through it because I know the answer’s going to be the same. But at some times I have to remind myself, and maybe you’ll have to remind yourself someday.

So why should you be baptized? [proceeds to discuss repenting of “wrong religion”]

Adult Sabbath School: Spitting Out Truth

It's in our spit

Awhile back I participated in the National Geographic Genome Project. I did a simple cheek swab for DNA and sent it to the project. My Y chromosome results identify me as a member of halo group R1b, a lineage defined by a genetic marker called M343. This halo group is the final destination of a genetic journey that began some 60,000 years ago with the ancient y chromosome marker called 168 originating in Eastern Africa. Women can be traced back further, up to 200,000 years via their mitochorial DNA.

It seems my personal DNA, the stuff that makes me who and what I am today managed to cross the southern Red Sea about 60,000 years ago in the area of Yemen. This was a tad easier than today as an ice age was locking up much of the water on the planet and the crossing was much easier than today. Spreading north, as Marker 89 through the Arabian Peninsula, "I" migrated across Iran and Iraq into Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and on into the area of Pamir Knot, a four mountain confluence on the Eastern Himalaya. dragging Marker 9 along with me.

It was here someone said go south into India but my ancestors said, "no we shall go north" into the Asian Steppes about 40,000 years ago. After another 5000 years, my DNA had to make a choice. Someone said on the steppes said "we're heading east," and became the Siberians who crossed the Bering Straits and became the first Americans. The Navajo are the direct descendents of these ice savvy Siberians. That was my one chance to become one of the True People.

My DNA, however, headed West as Marker 173 across modern Russia and slid into Europe as Marker 343 35,000-30,000 years ago as Cro-Magnon heading into what today is Western Europe. It was here my DNA routed the Neanderthals who had been surviving nicely as not quite us in Europe for the previous 200,000 years. They walked out of Africa long before I did in the form of Homo Erectus and adapted in Europe to the harsh Ice Age environment. They had little self consciousness and aren't our direct descendants. All non African Europeans have 2 to 4% Neanderthal DNA in their genome.. In 200,000 years they never changed their stone tools and living seemed to be in the moment without vision, insight or the consciousness we have today. My DNA was smarter in the form of Cro-Magnon, the people responsible for the intriguing cave paintings in Lascaux Cave in southern France. My DNA drove their DNA into southern Spain where they died out in, perhaps, as little as 18,000 years ago

Finally, with Europe warming and glacial ice withdrawing north, my DNA ancestors moved into Britain and Ireland. They evidently hung out there for most of what we know as civilized history, and finally made the jump across the Atlantic at the end of the 19th Century, settled in Rochester, NY. It was here I learned that I had no DNA trail but rather was a direct descendent of the long lost tribe of Zebulon, being one of the truly true people, Dutch. After all, if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much... :)

Naw, just kidding. Yes I am Dutch, but my DNA never took the trip north out of Africa into Israel. When my DNA got to Iraq, it never looked back and went east not west with our dear father Abraham. It seems my DNA insisted on a much more difficult way to get to Europe over a period of 35,000 years completely bypassing Israel. I guess we might conclude if "I" was never there, and I am Dutch, then I am going to have give up the idea I am one of the descendents of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Actually I did long ago.

DNA testing spells the death nell of such nonsense as the Book of Mormon and British Israelism.

In fact, my DNA tells me I am a black African Saudi Iraqi Iranian Eurasian who made a choice to head north from the Himalayas into the steppes of Asia, and then West bypassing the Middle East and sliding into Europe 30,000 years ago after a 30,000 year trek to become me 68years ago.

Ya gotta love science Goodbye bad theology and mythologies taken too literally. . Goodbye exclusivism and false prophecies. Goodbye  Adam and Eve of literalism and the idea that Shem, Ham and Japheth brought us the White, Black and Yellow races. Our skin changed color as we moved north where we no longer needed the massive darkening protection of melanin and did need to literally lighten up so we could receive enough sunlight to produce vitamin D for our bones. Someone tell the KLAN they all started as a small, incredibly tough tribe of "black" men and women who needed to move out of Africa on the worlds most amazing journey, over 60,000 years ago. And goodbye to a mere 6000 years since a literal Adam and Eve weren't our literal first parents. The implications are both stunning and troubling for fundamentalists.

We are all one after all and every cell in your body contains the truth of your own origins and journey out of Africa

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/94643

Prophet Claims He CANNOT Be Scammed

The world's ONLY end time witness has put up a post on "scams" and how people are unable to scam or con him. As God's only true prophet he has a secret agent whispering in his ear as to what scam to avoid.  Yeah right.

Overall, the nation’s most prevalent scam remains a fake check con, which involves “overpaying” for a product or service and asking the recipient to refund the difference. By the time the victim realizes that the check used for payment was bogus, the con artist has walked away with the consumer’s money…
The top six scams in order:
1. Fake checks
2. Bad Internet sales – products never delivered or misrepresented
3. Sweepstakes/prize/free gift cons that request payment to get your winnings.
4. Advance fee cons that promise a loan or line of credit, if you pay them first.
5. Phishing scams that attempt to get personal information to get access to your accounts, your tax refund or to open credit cards in your name.
6. Recovery/refund cons that promise past victims a recovery of swindled funds in exchange for a fee. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-6-us-scams/

Of course, there are also other scams.

Almost arrested, but not arrested Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Joshua, Bob Thiel continues with this:

As far as these six go, a while back someone tried the fake check scam for a business I own. I did not fall for it. The only one in the list that someone has not directly tried to involve me in is number 4 (although I may not have read every loan offer enough to see if that was the case). Otherwise, numbers 3, 5, and 6 are very commonly pushed to me. But other than number 2 (I have made some purchases over the internet that were misrepresented, so took action), I have not fallen for any of the scams. 

Sadly, many people are greedy and do not care how they harm others. Scams are based upon lies, theft, and deception. Scammers are, according to what Jesus said, a type of destroyer and murderer:

44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:44)
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10)

The major scam he has forgotten to add to that list is the "One True Church" scam that he and other church leaders are committing. Oh, and the tithing scam too

This is breaking news on Twitter from PCG

PCG just made this shocking announcement on Twitter.

Seriously?

This is breaking news?  Who else would speak at the cult college? Bob Thiel, the other failed false prophet?

It remains to be seen how much longer PCG can support its monument of idolatry to Herbert Armstrong.  Income has dramatically dropped and members are leaving.  Yet, Flurry is spending money like it has no end as he jets around the world spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in order to pretend to be somebody he is not.

The Truths that the Church of God Taught Us

Another gem from Facebook:

The Truths We Knew In The Church:

Wide-belts: only hippies wore those. People who wear them are advertising themselves for free love, drugs and open sex.

Bell-bottoms: designed so people could slip out of their pants faster to engage in sex.

Men’s earrings: men who wear them are feminine trying to imitate women. Also, earrings are for slaves. A man who wears them is indicating he is a submissive male looking for a dominant woman or a kinky gay sex-master relationship. It's OK for women to wear them. God created them to be naturally submissive to men.

Bangs: men who wear bangs are copying women. The bangs indicated they may be sodomite friendly. 

Modern clothes and hair fashions: should be avoided at all cost. All modern clothing designers, makeup and hair designers are sodomites and under the influence of Satan. We are not to conform to trendy fashions of the world.

Wound care: pour olive oil and wine into the wound, then bandage.

Mental health issues: no such thing, only the work of demons.

Coloring books: children should not use them. Most all of them contain myths, cartoon characters and lies. This is how Satan first begins to enter into the simple-mind of a child. Just like he told simple-minded Eve lies too.

Walt Disney: has a demon. Most all his movies are about witchcraft, magic, flying cars, myths, talking animals.

Angry women: to calm one down put a mirror in front of them. They are filled with satanic vanity. They will sit for hours in front of a "hint-hint" vanity mirror.

Please feel free to add to the list.

Bye-Bye Lilies...Finding Sex and Paganism in Everything

The Church of God has always found reasons to find all kinds of things "pagan" in the world around us.  One of the most idiotic things the church did was to change the words in some of the hymns we sang, including the Battle Hymn of The Republic.

Bye-Bye Lilies

"The Easter Lily, the flowery symbol of Easter, which turns up at church altars everywhere that day, is actually not a Spring flower. It was a pagan phallic symbol that represented a sexual reproductive organ. It obviously reflected on the fertility aspect of the celebration."

"...pagan symbols of sex and fertility, like little trees decorated with orbs and bulbs); the vernal equinox, called after Ishtar (pronounced "Easter") and accompanied by symbols of sex and fecundity, like rabbits, and eggs, and the lily flower, which the pagans thought looked like a sex symbol."

GTA, gave a blistering attack sermon at the feast. Mainly, focusing on sex symbols and lilies. Near the end of the sermon, he asked everyone to open their hymnals, turn to page 54, and then mark through the word "lilies" replace it with the word "autumn". This got Christ out of the middle of the pagan lilies.

Then the great lily purge started. Our pastor announced at church a few weeks later; "no more lilies were to used in church floral arrangements". My mom threw away some clothing which had lily designs on them. 

In the mid-60s we moved to another church area. A woman committed the lily transgression showing up to church services wearing a lily corsage. She was instructed by a DIC to remove it, she complied. My father told me about an attack speech given in Spokesman's Club the member destroyed all the lilies on his property.

In 1970 we moved to Atlanta. Carl McNair was surprisingly a little more liberal. No more than 2 or 3 lilies in the church's floral arrangement were OK. However, the pastor in St. Louis had a floral arrangement removed from the stage due to the detestable flowers being a presence in the church. Citing; "a stench in God's nostrils." 

In the mid-80s when I started attending church again I noticed this taboo was no longer enforced and the church had gone whole-hog pagan.

Reposted from Facebook, with permission

When Sheldon Studied Religion

The Futility of Keeping Sabbath In the North or South Pole Regions

The Chief Pharisee of the law, James Malm has laid down the decree about Sabbath Keeping for those living in far-flung places of the Northern or Southern pole areas are to start Sabbath at 6:00 pm regardless of whether or not the sun has actually set.  Just more legalistic lunacy from the Pharisaical right of the COG.

The Weekly Sabbath begins when the sun sets locally.  Persons living north or south of 55 degrees may observe the Sabbath from 18:00 hours [this is the average sunset time at Jerusalem], and all of the brethren in any such location should observe the Sabbath at the same time by common accord.  When Christ comes he will decide on this matter. 

Malm's stance and the SDA church stance is based upon late 1700's and early 1800's information and not on a single thing from the time of the Israelites when they started keeping Sabbath AFTER their captivity.  Just another reason the Sabbath command was for those ONLY in the  Middle East and not anywhere else in the world.

Contrast Pharisee Malm's comment above with this truth: 

CAN YOU KEEP THE SABBATH AT THE NORTH POLE?

Imagine you are trying to keep the Jewish Sabbath above the Arctic Circle! The Arctic night “Sabbath” eventually arrives. Suddenly you are not allowed to light a fire in your dwelling place because the sun went down but didn’t come back up. Your heater goes out. You honor God’s “law” by not re-lighting it. The next morning you are found frozen to death, and you go down in history as a noble Christian Jewish Sabbath-keeper who would rather die than break the Jewish Sabbath. Perhaps you miraculously survive the Polar Winter “Sabbath without a fire. You can’t work for the oil company that hired you until the sun comes up (making it “Saturday” morning) and goes back down again, creating a Saturday night. Eventually, however, the sun does come back up, stays up for a day, and goes back down. The Arctic stretch of extended non-Sabbath is finally over. You can go to work now. Sabbath-keeping is conventional for a while, but eventually the sun comes up and won’t go down! Now you have to contend with the extended Arctic stretch of non-Sabbath time. Because the sun won’t go down, Sabbath won’t “start” on Friday night. You have to go to work every day because the Sabbath won’t start since there is no sundown on Friday night.

Actually, there are more variations of this Arctic Sabbath nonsense. In the Arctic fall, If the Sun fails to set on a Friday night, you have “endless” work days. If the Sun fails to set on a Saturday night in the Arctic fall, you have an “endless” Sabbath. We will leave it up to your imagination to figure out what happens in the Arctic spring depending on which day the sun rises for the first time of the season. Please review the dual requirements of the Sabbath commandment. Both requirements apply to Jews. Christians who keep the Jewish Sabbath seem to forget the six-day requirement since it works against the ill-contrived idea that Adam and Eve qualified to rest on the 7^th day of Creation along with God. God had worked for six days prior, but Adam and Eve had existed only about one day:

Exodus 20:8 (NIV): “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

If you manage to die of over-work during this stretch of non-Sabbath time, you go down in history as the Sabbath-keeping Christian who would rather die than break the Jewish Sabbath. Is it illogical to think that God would impose a moral law on His earthlings that could not be kept anywhere in the solar system. The sins of fornication and adultery can be committed on Planet Earth or in a space ship on its way to Mars, but the Sabbath can’t be kept anywhere but in a climate like Palestine in the Mid-East. The Adventist prophetess, Ellen G. White, “solves” this problem by mandating that people should not live in parts of the Earth where the Sabbath cannot be kept. Try presenting the Gospel to a Polar-living Eskimo while at the same time telling him that he has to move to a different part of the world in order to keep “God’s Law.”

"In the countries where there is no sunset for months and again no sunrise for months the period of time will be calculated by the records kept. But God has a world large enough and proper and right for the human beings He has created to inhabit it without finding homes in those lands so objectionable in very many, many ways" (Ellen G. White, Letter #167, 23 March, 1900).

For the above reference, follow this link: www.gospeloutreach.net/chap09.html

God gave the Sabbath to Israel only. The Nation of Israel is located in a mild climate where the sun does rise and set every 24 hours for the entire year and where the temperatures are moderate enough to get through a  cold winter night simply by piling on the blankets.

If you lived in the Arctic Circle as so many people do now, would you be condemned to Hell and receive the Mark of the Beast because you COULD NOT keep the Sabbath right no matter how hard you tried? Would God have to give you a special dispensation to break His law so you wouldn’t end up with the Mark of the Beast?

On top of all this, Sabbath-keepers at the North Pole cannot keep the Sabbath according to a fixed calendar or the lunar calendar. During the Arctic winter, the moon’s position remains very close to the sun after it goes down. Here is what happens according to astronomer, Laura Spitler:

While the Moon does rise during the summer at the North Pole, since the Sun is always up, you generally can't see it, so I'll focus on the movement of the Moon during the winter.

The daily movement from Earth's rotation causes the Moon to circle once around the sky. If you spent the entire day staring at it, you'd have to turn around exactly once. This movement is also the same that the Sun makes during the summer . . .

The second movement caused by the Moon's orbit around the Earth is analogous to the movement of the Sun over the course of a year only it repeats over the course of a lunar month. Near the new Moon phase, the Moon is near the Sun and therefore never rises during the winter. As the Moon approaches full, it will start to pop up above the horizon. Eventually near the full Moon phase it will be high enough in the sky to stay up all day and circle like the Sun. . . The elevation of the circle will rise as the Moon becomes completely full and then start to decrease until it begins to dip below the horizon. Eventually the Moon will stop rising at all as it gets close enough to the new phase. The cycle then repeats.

Follow this link to the above reference: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=777

It appears that even our lunar Sabbath brethren can’t keep the Sabbath “right” above the Arctic Circle. Will they go to Hell because they can’t keep it right? Does God have to give them a special dispensation that would go something like, “Well, my lunar Sabbath-keepers have such a good heart and they really want to do what’s right, but in this case they can’t. I’m going to let them into Heaven anyway.”  from Lying for God

"We Can't Get There From Here..."

COG History: Lake Tahoe and the "Godders"

There is a great article up in a Trukee/Lake Tahoe newspaper about the Worldwide Church of God's Lake Tahoe feast site:

When Worldwide Church of God invaded North Lake Tahoe!: A boon to local business, this church gathering had some skeletons in its closet (Moonshineink)

In the fall of 1961 the Radio Church of God held its first Feast of Tabernacles at the Blythe Arena in Squaw Valley (home of the Winter Olympics skating events just a year earlier.)

The week long gathering brought up to 10,000 church members to Squaw Valley every fall, until the Blythe Arena collapsed in the early 1980s. While North Tahoe folks saw the annual visits of the Radio Church of God (later changed to the Worldwide Church of God) as a much needed boom to the slow fall economy, it turns out the church was an unorthodox and controversial organization, with many ex-members referring to it as a cult.  

Rod Stollery, who in 1961 helped his parents put out the then fledging Tahoe City World, remembers the church’s first visit to the area. “The merchants weren’t expecting much business from them,” said Stollery. When the owners of the Alpine Liquor and Sporting Goods left town for what they thought would be a slow week, Stollery took over the shop. “We were quickly inundated by church members who were fond of liquor. We sold out in two days and had to have a truckload sent up from the valley … needless to say, the event was an economical godsend to the area.”

The event would be front page news in the Tahoe City World every year, and a full page spread inside welcomed the church to town with a map showing church members Tahoe’s recreational opportunities. The paper was also full of ads from local businesses welcoming church members to Tahoe City’s finest dining and shopping establishments.

Cheryl Bechdolt Balbuena back then was a waitress in her family business, The Tahoe Inn (At the current location of Blue Agave). It was an inn, bar, and had two restaurants. “We were crazy slammed for ten days. The girl church members always wore modest dresses and no makeup, and the men wore sports jackets and ties. They were nice, but kept to themselves. And were really bad tippers, sometimes they didn’t tip at all.” In fact, the slogan around the restaurant was “Oh, no, The Godders are coming. We are going to work and not get paid,” said Balbuena. (“The Godders” was the universal locals’ term for the members of the Radio/Worldwide Church of God). 

The story ends with this:

While the goals of the Worldwide Church of God were certainly controversial, many long time Tahoe locals still fondly remember how the “Godders” helped North Tahoe businesses get through the deadly quiet days of fall.

Read story here.

Fred Coulter Church Spin-off Says Only Those 17 And Older Are Allowed To Read Site

The Christian Biblical Church of God is headed up by Fred Coulter, a failed former Worldwide Church of God minister who, at one point in time claimed, that by feeling the bumps on people heads he could determine their character and mental abilities.

Coulter sets himself up as the ultimate authority on Greek and has worked overtime in reorganizing the Bible into the "correct order" he believes it had originally been intended.  He then published his new bible, which was printed in China for an incredibly low price, to his members and the gullible public an inflated high price. Not only did Coulter reorganize the location of biblical books, but his real intent was to discredit New testament verses that started that the Old Covenant was no longer.  One reviewer wrote:

However, it became clear that this reordering of books was not the intent and purpose of this new translation. Soon into my survey I began to note a pattern of what appear to be intentional errors in translation. I suspect that these errors are not honest changes of text based on an academic application of understanding of ancient languages, but instead an attempt to re-address doctrines of the New Testament. All of the errors tend to be those passages in the New Testament which revoke the legal authority of the Old Testament. 

If there is one thing that infuriates the die-hard legalists in the church is the claim that the Old Covenant has been done away with, which essentially means the 600 some laws of the OT are not enforced upon grace filled Christians.

Coulter is also the one who got many of the conspiracy nuts in the church all frothing at the mouth that the church was being taken over by Masons, Jesuits and Jews that were supposedly also practicing witches. This was all done in the mid-1970's before he was disfellowshipped in 1979.  Coulter was actually disfellowshipped and excommunicated THREE times!  The third time was Rod Meredith did it in 2008 when he discovered LCG members were listening to Fred teachings and he publicly disfellowshipped him, even though Coulter was NOT an LCG member and never had been (see below).

Coulter is like many of the other COG's who demands that his followers tithe.  He has had several groups of people leave over the years when they discovered though well thought out study, that the Bible does not require tithing in the New Covenant.

All of that brings us to today.  In February 2018, Coulter's UK office manager resigned and passed the keys, office and money over to a David Sheridan. Coulter claimed this was not his idea and does not recognize Sheridan to UK office manager.  Coulter also demanded the money be returned.  Sheridan has refused and now the CBCG in the UK has rebranded itself as The Christian Biblical Church of God Endinburgh Scotland.  They even have a new web site found here.

They make this claim on their page:

We at cbcgedinburgh.co.uk are not responsible for their content or any sites they operate or provide links to nor do we give our complete endorsement, you must be your own judge.

Which translates that they are not responsible for the errors on Fred Coulter's main web site which has recently charged its name to Truth of God.

The new CBCGES is also age restricted.  No one under 17 is allowed to visit or read their page.  One has to wonder WHY anyone under 17 would even WANT to read their page!

When our Website is running,  only persons who are at least 17yrs years of age are invited to use it !!!

They also assume no responsibility of anyone damaged or hurt by reading their site:

cbcgedinburgh.co.uk accept no liability arising out of your usage of our Website or any cbg.org or linked Websites.

As the years go by, I never cease to be amazed at the sheer lunacy that comes out of the Church of God any more.  For a group of people who claim to be the "true believers", never has there been a group of people more screwed up than what the Church of God has become.  Every day brings something new.

Read more about Fred Coulter and the Christian Biblical Church of God here:

Beware of Fred Coulter!

Christian Biblical Church of God--An Ungodly Experience Nobody Should Have To Endure

Is Fred Coulter's Christian Biblical Church of God Imploding?

Fred Coulter, 'Zionist Jews' and the 'Synagogue of Satan'

Living Church of God's Rod Meredith disfellowships Fred Coulter a third time

From the Presiding Plonker

Fred Coulter Demonizes The Journal

SaveSave

What We WIsh Jesus Would Have Actually Done on the First Visit

We always hear about the many amazing things that Jesus of Nazareth apparently did, but nobody ever asks about the things that Jesus supposedly COULD have done, being omnipotent, but either didn't bother to do or didn't think were all that important.

Top 10 Church of God Deal Breakers

From an LCG source:

Top 10 COG Deal Breakers

If I see that a church has any of these characteristics, then it’s a deal breaker for my attending there. I’ve yet to find a COG that doesn’t have at least one of these characteristics.

1. Exaggeration of the authority of the ministry.
2. De-emphasis on the weightier matters of the law, exaggeration of the importance of ritual.
3. Callous view of the people in the world, minimization of human wellbeing.
4. Suppression of publicly preaching about the person of Jesus Christ and salvation.
5. Preferential treatment of certain members over others.
6. Demanding loyalty to the organization.
7. Exclusive club mentality.
8. Closed door policy.
9. Secrecy.
10. Tolerating abuse.

Here’s a recent example of #4, from this week’s LCG comments to the membership by Douglas Winnail. The below is illogical because what is supposed to be the action people are to take, other than accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior, if they do heed the warning? How is a mission of a warning message separate from a mission of telling the world about Jesus and being saved??

The Church as a Watchman: Many churches feel their mission is to tell the world that God loves everyone and Jesus came to save sinners. However, there is much more to the biblical Gospel message! Jesus told His disciples to be alert and watch for specific events that will mark the approaching end of the age and the return of Jesus Christ: widespread religious deception and persecution, ethnic violence, wars and rumors of wars and numerous natural catastrophes (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). Other end-time prophecies warn of a growing coarseness in society as people focus on selfish pursuits and pleasures (2 Timothy 3:1–5). On the world scene, trouble will erupt in the Middle East involving a European power backed by the Roman Church, Arab-Muslim nations and nations from the east and north (Daniel 2; 7; 11:40–44). This final conflagration will threaten the future of humanity—if Christ does not return (Matthew 24:21–22). Just as God raised up prophets to warn the ancient nations of Israel and Judah, the Church of God has a similar mission to function as a watchman to warn modern Israelite nations and the world of what lies ahead (Ezekiel 2; 3; 33; Isaiah 58:1). Delivering this powerful warning message must also accompany the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:14). This is the mission we have been given to carry out as the end of the age approaches.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail

PCG: Fundraising For God. After All, It Is Always About The Money

The Philadelphia Church of God Greed has an article up instructing their members how to bring in extra income to the PCG. As income drops because members are leaving, Gerald Flurry's purchase of a new family jet, the immense drain on income due to supporting a boondoggle concert series and financial nightmare that the "college" in England is upon the church, the PCG struggles to maintain income levels at a safe level. Never fear though, the Flurry family has a new opportunity for PCG members to raise money for the most important work the church has ever seen.  Dave Pack and Bob Thiel have been seen whimpering in the shadows in humiliation.

John Krueger has this to say in the article, "Fundraising for God: A way to not only earn money but also show God your enthusiasm for His Work":

God blesses us in many ways, and He asks for so little in return. Every year, we have opportunities to contribute to God’s Work through tithes, holy day offerings and funds for building, airplane and other projects. But there is another way we can give that has proven to produce much fruit: congregational fundraisers. These fundraisers provide great value to God’s Work.

Oh yes, it is a blessing to take hard earned money that your family needs in order to pay triple tithes, a tithe of the tithe, give regular and special offerings, contribute to the building fund, the upkeep of the Flurry family's private jet, AICF, Jerusalem dig, and more.  

There are more than 100 Philadelphia Church of God congregations spread across the globe. Most of these congregations have few members. I’ve heard people say, “Our congregation is too small for a fundraiser.” But that is not true! Even small congregations can make a big contribution through fundraising. One of the smaller congregations that I have served brought in $1,100 in two days. It takes hard work and dedication, but it can be done. Even when members are too scattered to do a group fundraiser, they can use their talents to earn money individually, then pool it together and donate it to headquarters to help the Work.

In spite of all of this, Flurry's god does not look at the money total, but in the attitude of the church members raising money. Obviously, anyone not raising money has a bad attitude! 

Chief financial officer Andrew Locher said that the Church received $200,000 in fundraiser donations in 2017. That is a great donation to God’s Work! But God doesn’t look at the amount that is given; He looks on the attitudes of those working the fundraiser.

So what are some practical fundraisers you can become involved in? Here are some ideas you can suggest to your local minister. One of the most profitable ways to earn money is to work concessions at sporting venues, which are always looking for people to staff their food and drink stands. Garage sales are another great way to bring in extra cash. You can use eBay, Craigslist, Mercari and other websites to sell your unwanted items and use your profits as a donation. You can also use your God-given talents and abilities to sell arts and crafts. Carwashes, clean-up projects, house painting and cleaning, flea markets, and bake sales can all be profitable fundraisers. When I was serving as a minister in Michigan, we had a bake sale where one chocolate cake auctioned for $150!

Did you know that one of the aspects of church membership is that it is a team-building exercise? Church members with bad attitudes are not wanted!

Working on a fundraiser together with your fellow PCG family members is worthwhile. Sharing fellowship and building teamwork and unity is worth more than money. Small congregations can make a difference. As you organize, prepare and hold your fundraiser, remember that the main purpose is not the amount of money you make: It’s your attitude of service that God is looking for. God loves to see His people work in a spirit of unity and fellowship, furthering His Work!

Now is the time to start planning a fundraiser. Show God how much you want to get His message out to the world by going beyond your holy day offerings and tithes. Work to send in additional congregational donations to support this Work and push closer to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ cannot come unless you hold a garage sale and sending in money! 

All of our congregations should have the attitude of the Macedonians and show our great God that we stand firmly and resolutely behind Him, Jesus Christ, His end-time apostle and His wonderful Work. Contact your minister with your ideas: Start fundraising for God!

jawohl, Herr Kapitän!