Every once in a while someone's delicate nerves get pinched and we get comments like this.
LCG is anything BUT united, especially after Gerald Weston told LCG members who visited other COG Feast sites that they had done so under the influence of Satan.
Why is Living Church of God and the broader Church of God movement so attuned to Old Testament stories, characters, and books instead of having their readers study the life of Christ and what he said and did? If one wants to grow as a Christian then one would assume they would want to follow the dude they claim they are following. As most LCG members or most COG members what grace, justification, and sanctification mean and they would be at a loss for words, but have the explain the law and they can wax poetic on how wonderful it is. Jesus, not so much. But why worry about Jesus when your time spent thinking makes your mind more like God's (which you will be one day soon and then you won't have to worry anymore about JC because you will be just like him).
Take Time to Think: For many today, the pace of life is frantic and filled with distractions. Yet, Daniel warned that at the end of the age, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Daniel 12:4). Jesus also warned, “the cares of this world” can “choke the word” and cause us to miss out on the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:22). One of the biggest challenges Christians face is the battle that goes on in our minds with thoughts that determine our actions. Solomon wrote, as a person “thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). David observed that a wicked person does not seek God and “God is in none of his thoughts” (Psalm 10:4). Yet, David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) because he meditated on God’s law daily (Psalm 119:97). David wrote that green pastures and still waters were restful and restorative (Psalm 23). Such places are conducive to thinking and reflecting on God’s creation and his Great Plan for human beings. If we want to grow and prepare for the coming Kingdom of God, we need to take time to think and meditate on God’s word. Read a Psalm every morning or evening and meditate on the subjects mentioned in Philippians 4:8. We can develop the mind of God if we think on these things.
Have a profitable Sabbath,Douglas S. Winnail
As Christianity adopted to the needs of nations and empires over the centuries, the Gospel message as originally delivered by Christ and the Apostles has become remarkably domesticated. This fact cannot be more exemplified by the influence of western nationalism and its adoption into bolstering church programs. When American Christian circles believe that the nations of the western world share in God's work, nationalist attitudes, fueled by the belief in a need to defend God's interests, are easily adopted into the teachings and language of its own culture. National security, economic and societal stability become integrated into church messaging. Christians in the west have even adopted the tenets of capitalism and democratic ideals into their belief system to the point of accepting they are precursors to the Kingdom of God. From Babylon to America is an initial examination of the problem by exposing the damaging effects of Anglo-Israelism and nationalism. Any adoption of Anglo-Israelism is one of the root belief systems that have led many to believe that America and the Anglo world has a national and genetic ordination to proliferate the Gospel. The prosperity, power and freedoms of the Anglo world is considered as evidence of this belief. When western nations become under threat from internal strife and foriegn powers, the fear of losing these privileges and securities become central to the congregational conversation, usurping the Gospel message of the of true freedom and security in Jesus Christ.
This has been floating around different COG mailing lists.
Your thoughts?
How many decades did we hear Rod Meredith, while he was in WCG, GCG, and LCG, claim we had less than 5 years till the crap hits the fan? LCG is still on that bandwagon. In a letter to the faithful and co-workers, Gerald Weston stirs up the fear factor once again.
We will all see rough times in life—and so will this Work of God—but God will always bring us through those difficulties if we love Him, as shown by our actions in obeying Him, and put our trust in Him. I urge you, dear brethren and co-workers, to have faith in God. He will see each of us through whatever difficult times there will be, and there will be extremely difficult times going forward. I doubt that any of us can imagine how traumatic the next one to five years will be, but as Jesus encourages us, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).
Of course, there is no other Church of God on earth who is as qualified as the Living Church of God is in preparing its people for a soon coming trauma. Remember, the COG needs tragedy and trauma to happen in order to prove they are the possessors of the truth and that salvation is only available through them because they are so enlightened.
One fact is for certain—God is in control. While He is allowing mankind sufficient rope to “hang itself,” He will not forsake His Work here on earth. Nor will He forsake those of you who are His. King Solomon declared, “The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish, but He casts away the desire of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:3). David wrote, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).
And how can we forget Paul’s reminder: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). The late Dr. Roderick C. Meredith reminded us to read that verse carefully. Too many quote the part that says, “all things work together for good” without noticing the qualifiers—“to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Loving God is more than an emotion. The Apostle John explained: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). And Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
As usual, time is short and the end is nigh, thus LCG members need to stop their revelry, lust, strife, and drunkenness:
Paul also reminds us of this comforting truth, while giving us vital admonitions to go along with that truth: “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:11-14). Octobr 12, 2021 Coworker/Member letter
