Giving Away Your Power

We have all done it. We are all guilty of it. We have all turned against ourselves by allowing it.

One of the problems one faces in belonging to and being a member of an organized Christian Church is that, either consciously, or subconsciously , one places themselves under the authority of others. We say we do it willingly. We believe that there are special people groups and leaders under whose supervision we need to be. It is others who tell you how to think, what to do, how to act and what to believe based on some criteria that they got from those "over" them, or those who came "before" them. For some, this works. For many, it is a formula for physical, psychological and emotional disaster.

In the case of Christians, the Bible is used to proof text any particular perspective one wants to promote. Whether we can admit it or not, within the Bible are enough speeches, personalities and dramas, which if manipulated properly and with enough conviction and showmanship, are justifications for just about every human endeavor in the name of God, Jesus and the Church. Many have the near crippling inability to conduct their lives without knowing what God, Jesus or the Bible would have them do, according to others.

In a church setting it is presented in some form of from God to Jesus to the Church to the minister to the elders to the deacons to the laity.....to the women...to the children who get to lord it over their pets. I am reminded of the parent who watched in horror as their child filled a backyard hole with water and nearly drown the family cat with the ceremonial words "in the name of the Father, the Son... and in the hole you go."

Funny, but not for the cat!

This fear based chain is kept in place with appeals to biblical authority, fear of consequences for disbelief or misbehavior based on select criteria. It is reinforced with guilt (I did a bad thing) for failure to meet the standards set and paid for with an appropriate amount of shame (I am a bad person). The control factors are kept fresh every week with sermons or studies and every day with admonitions to study to show oneself approved or "pray about it." The "it" can be your attitude which is not in sync with the system and your success with "it" is compliance and a good attitude. If you forget the criteria for success you can now go to a Church website and replay the sermons of those that control your mind and do your thinking for you. Throw in the idea that a human can have the unreachable goal of becoming perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect, which whether meaning real perfection or maturity, and you have formula for major guilt and shame and the control stays in place. I have never met any human being who is remotely mature or perfect like a god, and neither have you. Well ok, a few Buddhists. :)

In addition, others tell us that we are to grow in Grace (actually a nice concept few grow in) and Knowledge (a good thing but one which, in reality, the organization prays to God you don't grow in), and one can never get out of the box without grevious consequences. Usually what growing in grace and knowledge really means is growing in adherence and compliance graciously and knowing that what you are being told to think is the truth and you need look no further. Personal looking and personal conclusions based on that looking, is bad for the individual and best left up to others who are more in tune with the conclusions that need to be drawn for your own good.

When we come to realize how manipulated we have been on the topic of religion, we usually get angry at others for doing this to us and get depressed, which is the anger we are directing at ourselves "for being so stupid" that we will not express properly. I believe the reason depression is so prevalent for those who come out of a bad religious experience is that we are so programmed not to express our anger, doubts and simple "hell no, I don't believe that," that it has no other place to go but inward and provoke the depression. "Be angry and sin not" often means keep it to yourself and don't show it, unless of course you are higher up the authority chain.

Minister types seem to be in a perpetual state of anger of one form or another. Many of my clients tell me how tired they are of the minister being angry all the time in sermons and letting everyone have it. I say he is faking it and doing it because he is expected to by himself, his church and his concept of God. If ministers really spoke that way in public or in the workplace, they would be fired or at best labeled as wacko. I've sat through lots of biblically salted harangues. I once heard a curse put on someone publicly from the pulpit with a lot of anger. But that is the privilege of rank. Anger in organizations can only be expressed downward. Upward anger results in lynching of the laity.

One additional fact we need to keep in mind is that the the Bible itself is the source of every organizational and mission blueprint no matter how people use it to advance their perspectives. Most men and organizations aren't out to deliberately deceive others. They too are the victims of the system before them and keep it going with their own fears, shame, guilt and hope for reward and peace. Peace is really what the soul craves but we go looking for it by repeating such tried and proven unworkable perspectives.

We usually stop the blame game and pity party with the people who advance the ideas and not the source. Few blame the Bible itself as the source of more human misery, war, prejudice, racism, chaos, family division, sexual repression, male abuses, female victimization and the evils of exclucivism than Christians are capable of admitting. Most would never take the time to study the dark side of Christianity and it's rotten fruit.

When confronted with the stark facts of how the Bible has been used to control, shame, frighten and organize individuals, whether by early church father types, governments, churches or ministers, it is all to easy to say, "well they are not REAL Christians." Well, yes they were and yes they are, just ask them. They do these things because they are using the book as their guide. They appeal to the examples of God, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus, usually in that order. They are "living by the book" as they would say and the fruit is rotten, as we could say. They are doing what God would have them to do. Bible Atrocities They think that there is one continuum of truth that can never change, be clarified, reworked, or even dismissed and negated as ignorant. There is nothing new to know and keeping blinders in place is the same as being faithful. If God can say "I change not" and Jesus can be "the same yesterday, today and forever," that works for them and better work for us too, context not withstanding.

Where do we go wrong when we allow others ideas of how things are to control us? It's kinda like so many who take long trips to meet family holiday obligations. You don't want to go. It's expensive. It's tiring and we have other things we need to do. The kids want to play with their friends and we want to just do nothing with the time we have off. It's not that we don't love or appreciate, though sometimes we don't and the attitude we get home in is not the one we went with, but it is just too much effort. On top of that, we go because it is too much costly not to go. The tribe will be mad. Feelings will be hurt. Uncle Louie will be disappointed that John's wife wasn't there to leer at. And grandma won't have the chance to drive you nuts yelling at your kids to be quiet and stop having fun. Dad won't talk as usual and your sister will have that look that makes us all so pleased she came. But we did it... we gave away our power of choice and we did what we were expected to do for the benefit of others to to keep the illusion alive. Where do we go wrong?

We go wrong by giving up our own personal power. We go wrong by negating our own doubts. We go wrong by keeping that niggly question deeply stored in the back of our brains, never to be asked. We go wrong by saying we agree outwardly when we hate the idea or concept inwardly. We go wrong by letting things go and ideas we think are stupid pass. We go wrong by allowing some ancient text, idea or opinion pass as the only way to be. We go wrong by letting other humans with legitimate "authority" or only imagined to intimidate the reality and common sense out of us. We go wrong by letting others use the Bible to makes points that the Bible shouldn't make in this day and age. We go wrong by finding meaning in a scripture that the scripture never meant for us to take. ....take a breath....ok... We go wrong by letting doing what our heart is not in and repress where our heart is. We go wrong belonging to something outwardly that hurts us inwardly. We go wrong saying yes to sermons we should say no to. We go wrong by letting advice become a command. We go wrong by letting another human being think that whatever they come up with to do or say is fine with us.

In short, we give up our power of discernment and choice. I know that some get very angry when phrases like "take responsibility for your choice" is said. We don't like to hear that. I have hated it because it is costly and embarrassing. We come up with a dozen reasons we could not and that we HAD to give up our power. Realizing we did give our power to others is very very painful! "You weren't there" is usually a good lead in to why one had to comply. "I'd get disfellowshipped" or "I'd be demoted." "God would be mad at me." "I might end up in the Lake of Fire." "The Bible says..." We all understand how that worked. I participated in it. I preached it. I enforced it. I wish I had not. I am glad it was not personally for me as bad as it could have been had I not been willing many times to quietly ignore what I did not agree with and encourage others to do the same.

We wanted to do the right thing as perceived by others so we gave them our power. We even gave the Bible God our power by counting on everything from healing and good health to financial prosperity through generous giving. There were PLENTY of texts in the Bible to motivate us to do the right thing and believe it. Don't blame men for twisting the Bible out of context. That happens enough. IN context, the Bible can promote plenty of grief. It makes promises it doesn't keep and that is painful to admit. We still think that somehow we must still be at fault and that the Bible, or the Church or God, as defined by the Bible, can't be the misleading factor here. It has to be our fault.

Well it is not. Whatever power I gave, I gave by choice. I can only speak for myself. Fault is not the issue here. It just is. People give up their power every day. Wives give up their power to say "enough," to abusive husbands. Men give up their power to employers who abuse their time and capitalize on their fear. Members give up their power to Churches and Hierarchies that really don't care much what you do as long as you are there when needed to give the appearance of credibility and the physical support needed to keep it going. And on and on.

Every day, and in may ways, both in general living and, in this context, in religious affiliations, we have the power to keep or relinquish our power. Anger, depression and the inability to move along in life are directly related to the skill of holding onto our power when we simply don't agree or believe what the tribe, the government, the boss, the church or the minister say. Yes goes with no just like oceans go with sand. Every time I say yes when I mean no, every time I agree when I don't and every time I am sitting down on the outside while standing up on the inside, I am giving away my power. Sometimes it may be temporarily discrete to do this. But as a life habit and practice...No. For the times we did, forgive yourself and don't be the monkey on your own back. Giving up our power doesn't serve us in the long run and will impede our progress in life in the search for peace and truth. If we weren't looking for that in the first place, we probably would not have had this experience and I would probably not be writing anything about it.

Dennis Diehl is a former Pastor of 26 years and currently has a Therapeutic Massage practice in Greenville, SC. It my simple wish that humans beings learn to think for themselves before they let those who attempt to organize religion to do it for them. SCMassageTherapy@aol.com

We Are Ranked #12 in Religion Blogs!

Who would have thought this little blog would work it's way up to #12!  All thanks though goes to UCG and COGaWA and there split.  When the bickering churches stop bickering things will die down until Living Church of God implodes next.  Thanks also needs to go to those who send me information!

GTA: "A Combination of Captain Kirk and Paul Harvey"

Battle of the engineers in the World Tomorrow, Part 1

Richard Krajewski

1/14/2011 8:25 AM EST

There was a television show in the 70's that became very popular, though you'd be hard pressed to find even one copy of it intact today.  It was The World Tomorrow, a religious program that, at that time, featured the charismatic and handsome Garner Ted Armstrong.  The program had a following of millions of people worldwide, perhaps largely because of the captivating and mesmerizing delivery of Mr. Armstrong.  His style was a dramatic combination of Captain Kirk and Paul Harvey, delivered with an entertaining bit of sarcasm and sense of irony, punctuated by an occasional weighty pronouncement worthy of a Shakespearean actor.  So engaging was he that he even appeared on an episode of Hee Haw, and, later in his life, on Oprah Winfrey (as most great thinkers eventually do). It didn't matter that the church he represented at that time, the Worldwide Church of God, had predicted World War III would begin in 1972, with the “United States of Europe” overthrowing the United States of America.  It didn't matter.  You'd watch anyway.  At least until Garner Ted and his church got into a fight and Garner Ted pretty much disappeared.

 Rest of article is here:
Battle of the Engineers in the World Tomorrow Part-1

"You tell your husband I have no empathy for him."

This interesting exchange took place on MySpace.  Pay attention to the comments in green.

UCG/WCG/Tkach Jr.

Rainbow Poetess:
thank you for sharing so much

if they do not believe in a trinity, then how is it that they believe Jesus is eternal?

what changes in doctrine happened after Armstrong's death?

From their web site, they state the following:

First of all I believe it is important to state what the United Church of God teaches regarding this subject.
The
United Church of God teaches that God is a family. At the present time
there are two eternally living beings in that God family - the One we
call the Father, and the One we call Jesus Christ. Both are separate and
individual ever living Beings and from them everything exists and is
sustained.

On the surface that seems to be an accurate account of what the church teaches.  There is a pamphlet that the church offers called "Jesus Christ: The Real Story" that you can read at:  http://ucg.org.au/?library/booklets/jesus-christ-the-real-story.  It goes into greater detail of what it teaches.

 The moto when I was a member was "We are family".  This had deep meaning.  When Mr. Armstrong was alive it actually meant something.  We helped the world wide family members in any way that we could.   ~ But then... well it was during the doctrinal changes Joseph W. Tkach Sr started making that my husband was found to be terminal with liver failure and needed a liver transplant. 

I contacted "Headquarters"  to ask if a small prayer request could be put in the  world wide newsletter of the church.  The local minister contacted me via phone and absolutely tore me apart for making that request.  He told me that we did not deserve any help whatsoever, and that we sure didn't qualify for 3rd tithe assistance.  The strange thing was that I did not ask for third tithe assistance.  His phone call ate and ate on me for a number of reasons.  One) Why did this local minister think he had the right to speak to me in such a hurtful way?  Two) What happened to the "We Are Family" way of living?  It hurt me so deeply ~ to be treated so callously during a time of great hardship. 

And so ~ after 6 months of pondering I made a call to Headquarters... I needed some answers.  First I talked to a person that held no clout but really was a greeter.  I was a hand full (apparently) and was put on hold.. for 45 minutes I was on hold but had my jaw set and was not going to hang up until I got some answers.  Finally a man said "This is Joseph Tkach Junior.. you have some questions".   We talked for over an hour and a half and what he said blew me away... and not in a good way.  That one phone call ripped me away from the church.  The illusion was destroyed with no doubt left.

He said... there are a lot of people who need help world wide.  There is a baby that needs brain surgery or it will die and many other people that need prayer requests and we cannot help them ~ why should we put your prayer request in the newsletter?    I said... aren't we all a part of a world wide family of God and isn't that what family does.. help each other and pray for each other?  He then told me that I have no right to say what the church should or should not do. Oh... I thought. 

Yet that same church wanted me to continue to send in my tithes.. 1/3rd of my monthly income (that year) was to go for widows and people in need of help.  In total I was sending the church over $1,000.00 a month.  This quit immediately.  I used that money to pay for medical bills.    And so this was one of the changes that occurred after Mr. Armstrong died.  The very "heart" of the church had changed.  In total it took two and a half years for me to totally leave the church.  It was after I (we as a family) left the church that my husbands liver transplant happened... only two weeks after we made that decision.

Doctrinally some of  the changes were as follows.  I quote from a web site so that I am totally accurate:

...the church's three-tithe system was abolished, and it was suggested that
tithes could be calculated on net, rather than gross, income.

On January 16, 1986, Herbert Armstrong died in Pasadena, California. Shortly before his death, Armstrong named Joseph W. Tkach Sr. to succeed him as leader of the church.

As early as 1988, Joseph W. Tkach Sr. began to make doctrinal
changes. Doctrinal revisions were made quietly and slowly at first, but
then openly and radically in January 1995. They were presented as "new
understandings" of Christmas and Easter,^[12] Babylon and the harlot,^[13] Anglo-Israelism,^[14] Saturday Sabbath,^[15] and other doctrines.

In general, Tkach Sr. directed the church theology towards mainstream evangelical
Christian belief. This caused much disillusionment among the membership
and another rise of splinter groups. During the tenure of Joseph Tkach
Sr., the church's membership declined by about 50 percent. His son,
Joseph Tkach Jr., succeeded him after his death in 1995.

Eventually all of Herbert Armstrong's writings were withdrawn from
print by the Worldwide Church of God. In the 2004 video production Called To Be Free, Greg Albrecht, former dean of WCG's Ambassador College, declared Herbert Armstrong to be both a false prophet (though Armstrong himself did not claim to be a prophet) and a heretic.[16]

Eventually a great rift occurred.  Multiple splinter groups were formed.  I have not returned to any of them... nor any church for that matter.  One absolute fact is...  power absolutely corrupts ~ when left in the hands of man-kind.  I am one ~ not so unique who left the church never to return to any kind of organized religion.

-------------------------------

Rainbow Poetess:

i cannot imagine the hurt and confusion caused by such terrible circumstances

but i can so totally sympathise with the feeling of dejection as the realisation of what the church and family that you loved was starting to become - the antithesis of all it had been

i am also "churchless" as such

i have a clear view of my own doctrine [most of it] and a clear view of how i should be living etc, but i have no "home" [churchwise] 

i was starting to look at various, as you may tell by my new threads, before the flood happened, but these floods have taken my attention away from my own spiritual journey and i am feeling that maybe i was being too "obsessed" by trying to find "a spiritual family" and that i just need to get on with living and being a good example for my children

It was hard Rainbow.  The church had been my family for over 20 years.  The last day I attended I just looked around at everyone who had been close to me and wondered how I had gone wrong.  One man walked up to me and told me in front of everyone... You tell your husband I have no empathy for him.  You tell him he pisses me off.  Not one person came up and defended me.  The thing was my husband was so very ill.  He had lost 165 pounds and was literally at deaths door.  This man knew this and still he said what he did. 

I just silently and calmly collected my things, took my two daughters hands and walked out, never to return.  I could not feel God among those people anymore.  So that was the day I walked away from the church and organized religion and walked calmly toward God Almighty.  It was a huge step out in faith for me. 
~~~~~~~

I was horrified when I sat down and watched the news last night.. and really got a eye opening look at what is happening with the flooding in your country.  The 12 years old boy that gave his life to save his little brothers.  I wept and wept.  I am so saddened by the massive suffering that is happening all around you. 

Now is the time for you to widen your heart and let your God given love flow to all those you can Rainbow.  I have learned that God's Church does not dwell within a man-made building... the sky is the roof and we are always in God's Church no matter where our feet are and no matter what we are doing. 

We ~ letting our light shine ~ especially all the brighter when hard times come is of the greatest importance.  It helps those who are afraid and in the dark to find their way, to absorb comfort and feel the God given love be  a balm that heals.

Be strong and endure.  Let your light shine and warm those around you.

Last Two True COG's In Pissing Contest To Take Members From UCG/COGaWA

You knew it had to happen sooner or later.  Meredith started the ball rolling by declaring a Church wide fast to pray for the brethren of UCG and those being hurt by the split.  Bob Thiel jumped on the band wagon and urged UCG and COGaWA members to leave their respective churches and join the only Philadelphian church doing the work of God today.


Meredith sent this out today:

“First of all, we need to pray fervently for everyone involved! Pray that God will guide them and keep them in His will. Pray that they may continue to believe the Truth and want to do the Work. Pray that God will bring with us those who should come and would loyally and cooperatively help us “do the Work.” For we certainly need more dedicated members and ministers, and I pray that all of us will wholeheartedly welcome them with open arms if they sincerely and lovingly want to come with us. Right now, as many of you know, hundreds of members are in the process of leaving the United Church of God. Many could go into little factions and end up doing nothing as far as reaching the entire world with the Gospel of the Kingdom. So we do need to cry out to God with all our hearts that some of them would come with us and that He would grant us favor in their sight and help them to realize that we do have a depth of love and unity that many of them have not been told about.

Fellow ministers, I urge all of you to stir yourselves to reach out to these people and these ministers, to visit them as soon as you are able, to work with your Elders and members to make them feel welcome and to help them in every way to become part of the group that is really “doing the Work” at this time. We do not want to pressure or “proselytize” anyone in a wrong way. But it is certainly not wrong to reach out to them and let them know that we love them and would love to have them with us to help us do the Work and get the message out to a very confused world.”

Income is down in LCG so this is a great money making tool to have members come in with  their tithes.  Flurry's cult is low on income too since they just built a monstrosity in Edmond that is for the purpose of worshiping HWA.

Then the Second True End time Church jumped into the fire.  Gerald Flurry and Lil' Junior started a series of articles on their websites telling UCG/COGaWA to join up with PCG.  

Our church is better than your church. Who would have thought that in  1,980 years PCG was the only remnant church doing what God requires because only THEY have God's TRUE form of government.


Flurry Junior writes about Meredith:

When Rod Meredith left the Worldwide Church of God to start a new church in 1993, he clearly called into question the way Herbert W. Armstrong had governed the Worldwide Church of God. He wrote in Church Government and Church Unity that the subject of church government had been seriously misunderstood during the days of Mr. Armstrong’s leadership.

Furthermore, Meredith said, God’s Church had rarely ever been governed by one administration, with one man in charge—and Mr. Armstrong knew it.

In actual fact, Mr. Armstrong’s writings flatly reject this revisionist reading of Church history. He wrote in April 1981 that God always works through one man at a time. “He worked through Abraham. He worked through Moses, through Joshua, through one ‘judge’ at a time, through Samuel, through David, through Solomon. He worked through Peter and when Peter had left the Middle East, through Paul. These men had, in greater or lesser number, staff assistants under them, but God’s work was through the one man at a time!” Mr. Armstrong wrote (emphasis mine throughout).

Without a doubt, it was a deceitful and confusing web Mr. Meredith tried to spin after Mr. Armstrong’s death. On the one hand, Mr. Armstrong supposedly knew God didn’t work through one man. And yet, Mr. Armstrong’s own administration was obviously hierarchical, with one man at the top.

 -------

According to Meredith, this collegial “New Testament” approach is what they failed to grasp during the days of Mr. Armstrong. This is why, Meredith said at a ministerial conference in July 1993, he didn’t understand the right approach to government during the 1960s and ’70s.

Today, however, he does understand. “I’ve learned the right approach in servant leadership,” Meredith told his ministers in 1993. Later, he added, “Let’s try to do it right this time, as shepherds with a loving approach.”

It is well worth noting that this is the same deplorable tactic the Tkaches used to destroy Mr. Armstrong’s legacy. We’ve made so many mistakes in our past, they often said. And unfortunately, Mr. Armstrong didn’t live long enough to correct these many errors. But now, God has led us to make the necessary changes!

How convenient that argument was for them. And how pitiful and ignorant it made Mr. Armstrong look.

In Mr. Meredith’s case, he implies, If only Mr. Armstrong would have lived long enough to learn the right approach to servant leadership. If only he would have been able to administer government the right way, with a loving approach.

------

Now please—consider this carefully. The reason this history is so critically important is because there are many thousands of brethren—people who once devoted their lives to upholding the teachings of Herbert Armstrong—who now are laboring under the delusion that there are many different branches of God’s Church doing God’s work today. This is why, even if ministers in United and Living choose to ignore us, many of their members do not.

They may not believe the Philadelphia Church of God is the one true Church. But they do believe the pcg is one of many different branches God is using to do His work. In their minds, we may be the branch God uses to preserve Mr. Armstrong’s literature or to proclaim a prophetic warning to this world.

That kind of thinking is a deadly delusion. And as Mr. Armstrong wrote in the article quoted above, it started during the liberal rebellion against God’s government in the 1970s. And six months before he died, he felt compelled to remind the brethren about this history.

“I want you, brethren, to think about and understand what happened to God’s Church in the 1970s lest history repeat itself! I want you to see the ‘fruits’ of rebelling against God’s way and God’s government,” Mr. Armstrong wrote.

Seven years after he delivered that sobering warning, Rod Meredith left the Worldwide Church of God to, as he claimed, faithfully preach “the truths proclaimed by Herbert W. Armstrong.” And yet, in his very first booklet—the battle cry for his church and the framework for his new government—Mr. Meredith said Jesus Christ almost always uses many different co-existing branches to do His work. And Mr. Armstrong, he added, believed this too!

None of it was true. But many people believed it.

And today, many still do, even if Mr. Meredith is no longer one of them. But leaving aside what he might teach today, it is nevertheless true that the minister most responsible for popularizing the many different branches lie after Mr. Armstrong’s death is Roderick C. Meredith. 

Harold Rhodes Forced Into Retirement Because UCG Had A Dramatic Drop In Income?

Was it really a money issue or they were ticked off at his stance for questioning them?  COG has  knack for wrecking people's lives with they are in their sickbed's!

Dear Brethren,

Thursday evening, December 30, 2010, I resigned from the corporate body of the United Church of God, an International Association.  In no way am I resigning as a minister of Jesus Christ.  I have been a faithful minister of Christ for over 41 years – following and supporting the human leaders of the Church, as they followed Christ’s example; (I Cor. 11:1).

Examples of my conflict with promising unquestioning loyalty to the administration is laid out in the three documents, What Really Happened in Latin America?, What Are The Real Issues? and What Were The Real Efforts to Seek Reconciliation? (available upon request).

As a shepherd, my responsibility first and foremost, is to feed and protect the flock of God.  If I remain silent about tainted food and fouled water being distributed to the sheep of God, in order to promote peace and harmony in God’s congregations that I pastor, I prove myself to be a hireling and only interested in peace among men (Ezek. 34).  Truth sometimes brings conflict.  Despite the uproar caused by Christ when He spoke the truth, true disciples had peace with God.  

I want to share with you an interesting quote by Dr. Roger W. Sapp.  Dr. Sapp was an Army chaplain who taught leadership skills to commissioned and non-commissioned officers.  In one of his writings titled – Honoring the Truth-Teller – he states the following: “… Often in an organization, whether it is a local church, a business, a denomination, or a fellowship of churches, loyalty becomes the overriding value and begins to overcome truthfulness.  This is often revealed in private words, actions and attitudes rather than the official position of the organization.  The leaders of an organization may say that they value truthfulness but reveal in their actions that this is not really so.”

The apostle Paul chose truth over harmony when writing to the Corinthians about immoral behavior.  He incited godly disharmony when he later corrected them for accepting and putting up with a different spirit, those whom he defined as deceitful workers.  A member of the Council and Administration commented to me recently that, “a different spirit has entered the Church”.  I told him I certainly agreed.

Dealing with disharmony and standing up for what is right is a necessary part of growing in the character of Jesus Christ.  In fact, Paul said, there must be divisions among us so that those who are approved are recognized (I Cor. 11:19).

I personally do not claim perfect behavior or excellent wisdom in my every approach.  I ask for your forgiveness for anything I’ve done or said that is not a representation of the mind of Christ.  Like the apostle Paul said, I have not already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid on me (Philippians 3:12-14).  I hope and pray that you will do the same.

On a personal note, as all of you know, I was in three different hospitals flat on my back, for nine months fighting for my life since February 1st of last year.  The first seven weeks were spent in ICU.  But thanks to your prayers, and the prayers of many of the brethren around the world, God has intervened and I’m now finally in a position, although still somewhat incapacitated, to actively serve you, as your pastor, once again.

Several months ago, I received a visit in the hospital by Mr. Victor Kubik, (manager of Ministerial and Member Services), my boss.  He asked me if there was anything he could do for me.  I responded by saying, “Yes, there are two things you can do for me – one, please continue to pray for my recovery, and two, don’t pull the plug on me – with God’s help, I believe I can make a comeback”.  I was told I had his prayers and any change in my status, such as retirement, would be my call.  I was visited by Mr. Kubik and Mr. Aaron Dean on December 16th, 2010.  My wife and I were told that the purpose of their visit was to retire me on December 31st 2010, two weeks later.  I felt it was no need, at that point, to remind them that United’s retirement policy states, that if the Church initiated my retirement they would give me 24-36 months to prepare for it.  I was given two weeks.  They stated the reason was a financial one since the income was down.  I told them I had already received notice from the Church’s insurance company that they would no longer cover me after January 31 of 2011.  Therefore, I was in the process of setting up my Medicare Part B plus an Advantage Program to cover the rest, so I would not be a financial burden to the Church.  This seemed to make no difference.  I was surprised and pointed out that I had not planned to retire and besides, I had already made out the speaking schedule for the local church areas for January and February of 2011, and I was on it.  

Moreover, while I was in the hospital, the Administration offered my job to two different ministers, who turned it down because they knew I was planning to return to active service.  One of them contacted me after I was home and asked was I aware of this.  I said no one had talked to me at all; that’s cold.

As an employee, I can no longer support the current Council or Administration because of their actions, based on God’s standards and scriptural principles.

Loree and I have appreciated the many friendships we have formed over the past 17 years, and have counted it a privilege to serve you, the brethren in this part of the country.  We are both deeply saddened by the events unfolding in the United Church of God.  May God guide you and sustain you in these difficult and challenging times.

We will be here to serve those who wish to be associated with our new organization – the Church of God; a Worldwide Association.  We will let those of you who would like to know, the  locations and times for local church services as soon as we can make those arrangements.

With deep love and respect,

Harold and Loree Rhodes

Latest UCG Resignation January 14, 2011

Spanky Reaching Out To Dissatisfied UCG/COGaWA Ministers

Spanky's Living Church of God has declared a church wide fast for January 29th so members can pray for brethren affected by the of UCG split. There are reports that a letter from Spanky will be sent out this weekend detailing the reason for the fast and also opening the arms of Living Church of God for any dissatisfied ministers to jump ship yet again and join the ONLY true church remaining on earth today preaching the gospel.

The question needs to be asked by UCG ministers - Why leave the fairly relaxed church that UCG is and jump back into the legalistic BS of Meredithism?  Even the COGaWA ministers who will remain unemployed should really take into consideration about how legalistic LCG is.  COGaWA has made it know they plan on being far more conservative than UCG. Jumping ship into the graceless, Jesus absent, LCG would be mind numbingly stupid for anyone!

Even Chiropractor Bob is getting into the debacle and asking UCG/COGaWA ministers to jump back into a failed governmental structure that is riff with abuse and legalistic terror.

In all that I have read about WHY the 150 or so ministers/elders left UCG in the past year, none whose resignation letters I recall reading have seemed to give lack of focus on proclaiming the gospel as the main reason for leaving UCG (United Church of God).

If you are or were part of UCG and are confused about what to do, please pray, fast, and study the Bible about this. Decide if you wish to follow the lukewarm or those that Jesus Christ has truly been using to do the work–those who have had the same basic governing principles for over 40 years.

I realize that neither I, Dr. Meredith, nor others in LCG are perfect. But hopefully we are trying to do the work that the Bible indicates that the church most faithful to the words of Jesus would do.

Those affected by this crisis who wish to support a more effective gospel-proclaiming organization should, despite our flaws, consider checking out LCG, as it has stood for proper church governance and the work since its foundation (which preceded its formation).

It’s decision time for those who have been affiliated with UCG. Most of those part of the COGWA and UCG leadership have already demonstrated, to me at least, that neither group intends to be Philadelphian. But that the choice of LCG still remains.

Exclusivism

Exclusivism and just how to perpetuate that specialness is a hallmark mindset and goal of most religious faiths. It is a mind virus that seems to be rearing it's rather ugly head again. One way, one belief, easily defined rights and wrongs, one law, and one common acceptable mind virus will provide all the comfort and security we need. The Bible in our culture is often misread and misapplied to perpetuate more harm than good. It's what exclusivists do best.


Most religions, denominations and even rival churches of the same denomination but with slightly different practices, teach that they are the one true path to salvation and all others will simply suffer the fates. I live and work close to Bob Jones University, where being consigned to hell for non compliance is an art form. Around here it is not uncommon to read "Love Jesus, or burn forever in Hell." Try that one one on your kids. "Love Daddy, or I will kill you." That's child abuse isn't it??? Ask a Bob Jones student what they believe and it usually comes out in some form of "whatever they say."


When intolerant fundamentalists. who are infected with exlusivism speak, the goal is to spread the virus and get others to agree and support it's propagation. Once you are in, everyone not in, is out, and the virus then endeavors to become immune from attack through bluster, fear, shame and guilt. I recently tried to read a copy of the Philadelphia Trumpet, but gave up and opted for chewing ground glass which felt ever so much more pleasant.

Tell one of God's chosen they are biblically ignorant and watch what happens. So many sincerely misguided Christians and ministers are piously convicted, to be sure, but marginally informed in their education and perspectives.


While preaching exclusivism, they tend to leave out the being ignorant of the bible part. Tell one of God's chosen they are biblically ignorant and watch what happens. Too bad the being more like Jesus and less like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, Elijah and Paul never really caught on in the many prophecy motivated and obsessed churches and denominations. The "we only" mentality is responsible for much of the division in Christianity today. Christianity seems to thrive on division for multiplication.


So how does exclusivism work? What must happen for it to be successful?


First of all it must do two things. It must ensure it can take up a long term residence in the host (Membership or maybe Meme-bership). A meme is an idea that is passed on from one human generation to another. It's the cultural equivalent of a gene, the basic element of biological inheritance. The term was coined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene. Secondly, it must bring about the proper conditions for spreading itself (Evangelism).


This is how it is done:

1. Promise reward for the effort, position, power, inside knowledge and specialness. It's better if the reward is "some day."


2. Threaten punishment for failure to grow, or pay, pray, stay and obey. This can take place almost any time now and/or in the future.


3. Convince them they are the chosen, exclusive and special people. Teach them that all others are false and there is only ONE right way to think or faith to express. Teach them that right way just happens be where they are.


4. Disable their ability to challenge or disbelieve the information given. Lower their immunity. Faith is superior to reason. "The wisdom of man is foolishness with God."


5. Establish a library of true literature and correct answers, for the faithful and discourage reading outside of this one true source, usually provided by the chief virus and his team of pathogens.

Once the parasite has been injected into the host, it will need to propagate itself or the virus will die. Follow these steps.

1. Emotionally, spiritually, psychologically or literally kill all immune persons. If you can't infect them, eliminate them.


2. Those you can't kill... intimidate and discriminate against. In religion, this is being disfellowshipped, demoted, censored or made to bring the watermelon to the picnic. Isolate them because such people, if not held in isolation can pass on immunity and resistance to the virus.


3. Encourage true believers to breed faster than false ones. Evangelism is a great tool for this.


4. Censor incoming information and remember to repeat "the wisdom of man is foolishness with God."..often, along with a lot of other scriptures that promote blind obedience. Most of these will be found in the Epistles of Paul.


5. Be prepared to give out disinformation and spread lies about your rivals. Demonize them. And remember, the bigger the lies, the louder you shout it at church and the more seriously concerned you appear for the welfare of the members, the more successful you will be.

Exclusivism is really a rather evil mind set. Us vs. them, Me vs. You, Chosen vs. unchosen, Christian vs. Pagan, True vs. False as defined by one government, organization or person over another, is never going to turn out right.

DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Congregant Bill of Rights

Congregant Bill of Rights

The following are basic human, religious and spiritual rights any person has as a member of any and all
religious organizations or church congregations.

You have the right to expect the church to keep your personal contributions private and should be able to expect that any who deal with such things for accounting purposes will do the same.

You have the right to expect that your membership in any church or congregation is not contingent on how much you give or do not give. You should also expect that jobs, positions, opportunities or offices are not given based on the amount anyone gives to the church.

You have the right to say I can only give this even if it is not a tithe of your income gross or net.

You have the right to not to be spiritually judged or have your loyalty or sincerity questioned based on what you are able or unable to give financially to the church.

You have the right to ask a Pastor if he checks tithes and offereings for any of the above reasons before giving to a church.

You have the right to say "I'm tired and won't be there, " to any and all activities, plays, fundraisers, studies, seminars, prayer groups, rehearsals, practices and sermons.

You have the right to say "I don't care about that."

You have the right to question the advice, counsel or sermon of any minister, elder, deacon or any other person in authority.

You have the right to question authority and to still expect to be allowed to attend your church.

You have the right to question a minister who declares himself one or both of the Two Witnesses of Revelation, a Prophet, the Supreme Watcher of Mankind for God, The Only True Apostle in this Age and any other title or position he can come up with to impress you as to why you need to support him.

You have the right to suggest a pastor get spiritual or psychological help should the need arise.

You have the right to tell him that the congregation is noticing a trend here.

You have the right to ask why the church believes what it does when the Bible might say otherwise, or why the Bible says something that the church practices that seems scary, weird, inappropriate for this time, out of date or controlling.

You have the right to notice that ministers often quote scriptures out of context or fail to enforce or address the rest of the story that does not agree with the point they are trying to make.

You have the right to ask all the "how can that be," "how could that happen," "why does it say this here and that there," questions you can come up and expect an intelligent answer. If you are told that you are using human reasoning, ask the pastor what kind of reasoning he uses. If he says "God's," find another church.

You have the right to not want elders, deacons or your friends accompanying the minister on visits to your home to talk to you.

You have the right to discuss or not discuss your life with the minister as you see fit.

You have the right to expect absolute confidentiality and for your story not to show up in the sermon next week, even though "I won't say the name."

You have a right to be called ahead of time when the pastor wants to ask about stopping over.

You have the right , when he calls to say, "I'm tired," "I'm busy," "No, but I appreciate the call," without repercussions.

You have the right to keep a dirty home, grass not mowed perfectly, an older car, red in color and kids that don't say "yes sir, nice to see you sir," in just the right way.

You have the right to watch and read what you wish even if the pastor just got done bashing that particular program, movie or book from the pulpit in his sermon on "Demons in Your Home--Six Ways to Assure Your Eternal Death."

You have the right to ask the pastor not to call on you at work, even if you own the business.

You have the right to say, "I can't afford to take you to lunch." "I can't afford to give you free wood or brick." "I can't afford to fix your house up free," "I can't fix all your teeth," to your pastor should he expect professional courtesies, even if he offers to do your funeral free.

You have a right to expect free use of your church for weddings and funerals.

You have the right to expect these usages are not dependent on you, your parents or children living a sinless life six months prior to the date of the event.

You have the right   to not to answer questions your pastor may ask you or your children about your sexual practices. If he insists, then insist that you all share together.

You have the right to not let the pastor inform you as to who you can and cannot date or marry.

You have the right to enjoy your sexuality free of church or pastoral approval. Something that is wrong for the pastor is not necessarily wrong for you in how you express yourself to your partner. There is no Bible prohibition against....well you know. And if there were, you'd have the right to disagree with that too.

You have the right to not share which or if you are taking medications of any sort with the pastor.

You have the right to take such medication and not be judged as having a lack of faith or trust in God to heal you.

You have the right to seek professional help without informing your Pastor of the nature of the help and you have the right to not be helped solely by the pastor under threat of repercussions.

You have the right to insist the pastor get professional help should the need arise and the man is causing more harm than good. You have the right to remind him that God does not directly speak to him nor express His will only through the mind of the pastor and that makes you uncomfortable if he thinks that is so.

You have the right to be wrong about a many things.

You have the right to believe you are correct about many things without repercussions.

You have the right not to care about everything that others think you must care about to be a good Christian.

You have the right to tell the pastor he is wrong, mistaken or exaggerating.

You have the right to dress as you wish, wear the jewelry you wish and make up you wish or not wish without being labeled a whore or a goody goody.

You have the right to feel that dressing as if it was still 1957 and only watching Disney Movies or How the West Was Won as proof of your pureness is baloney.

You have the right to not be told that the best times for entertainment, movies and TV was when the Pastor was a boy.

You have the right to like the food he does not like and to not like the foods he does.

You have the right to like the schools he doesn't and not like the ones he does.

You have the right  to not to bear your soul to the ministers wife.

You have the right to like or not like, agree or not agree with the ministers wife.

You have the right to not view the world through the pastor's eyes morally or politically.

You have the right to hate the war while he believes the war in Iraq is God's will and thinks it's all in the Bible.

You have the right to expect him to speak clearly where he thinks the Bible speaks for us today and to walk slowly and drink cool water where it doesn't.

You have the right to tell the pastor that that is his opinion and not necessarily the only true opinion on earth.

You have the right for you, your children, your partner and your friends to be themselves.

These are but a few of the rights any member of any Church, congregation or religious organization has.
 

In short, you have the right to not be required to check your brains, your insights, your perspectives and your free will at the door to be welcome and a member of any church.

DenniscDiehl@aol.com

WCG2 (COGaWA) Janaury 11 Conference Updates

Conference Update

January 11, 2011 – The meetings began as Interim Board President Mike Hanisko called upon Kevin Epps for the opening prayer. Mr.Hanisko then announced the result of the ballot for our church name. Of the 118 ballots cast, 78 chose "Church of God, a Worldwide Association," making the temporary name official.

The first presentation of the day was given by Dave Myers on youth camp programs. We don't have a lot of definition yet but we can review the importance of it. One of our core values is to teach our children God's way of life. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7 we find a directive to do this. Additionally, in Luke 9:47-48 we see Christ telling us to receive little children. Receive means "to receive into one's family, to educate."

Numbers 32:24 speaks of a tribe of Israel taking care of its "little ones" and providing "sheepfolds" for its sheep. In a sense, we are taking care of our little ones via our camps. Matthew 18:10 also speaks of not despising (disdaining or thinking little of) "little ones."

Camp is effective because it takes youth away from their normal routines. It puts them in God's creation and away from electronics. We're familiar with the concept of the "Zone" and will continue to provide a godly environment.

We will also continue our pre-teen camp programs. We may be able to use the same location for both a pre-teen camp and a teen camp. Regarding staff, we have 11 trained teen camp directors, seven experienced pre-teen camp directors and two Challenger II directors. We have very talented people and we will take care of our young people. We intend to continue allowing people of other fellowships to attend as space is available.

We will begin with a demographic study to plan locations of camps and to determine the number of teens we will need to serve. The administration will need to appoint an overall Program Director and camp directors. An application process also needs to be developed. While respecting the rights of our previous organization, we have already made calls to find camps and it looks likely that we will have camps in California, Texas, Missouri, in Alabama or Georgia, and in Ohio or Pennsylvania.

Next, David Treybig gave a presentation on developing a literature base. Prior to speaking of possible ways to produce literature, he discussed the importance of reading. Coupling the second commandment that prohibits the worship of idols with Deuteronomy 6:9 which instructed the Israelites to write the commandments on their doorposts, Mr. Treybig said that it is obvious that God expected His people to be literate. True worship of God involves the intellect as opposed to worshipping an image.

Arthur W. Hunt III in his book The Vanishing Word wrote: "The Judeo-Christian heritage, which characteristically has been word-dependent, is contrasted with paganism, which typically has been image-dependent…A church cut from its word-based heritage and a nation stripped of word-based modes of learning do not have the rhetorical or mental resources to guard against despotism" (p. 26).
The importance of reading is also seen in Acts 17 where we note that many of the Bereans believed what they heard from Paul possibly because they "searched the Scriptures daily" (v. 11). Reading disciplines the mind and helps one retain information.

As for producing literature, our organization has many experienced writers and reviewers who know how to work remotely. Many of these talented people have indicated that they are ready to go to work.
Basic, first-contact literature could be produced first and posted online. More in-depth material could then be generated later. And instead of producing multiple booklets on closely related subjects, one booklet could suffice. Since the Internet is so cost effective, this may serve as our primary delivery tool, although we will certainly want some materials in hard copy, too.

Doug Horchak next discussed planning for the Feast of Tabernacles. He noted that Hebrews 11:13 speaks of our vision of the future. We keep the Feast because doing so reminds us that we are strangers and pilgrims here on earth who are convicted of and assured of the coming kingdom of God. We have 20 or more past Feast coordinators.

Last Friday, many of these men here at the conference met to discuss possible locations for observing the Feast. Of course, we will respect the contracts of our previous organization. At this time, we believe we will have four to six sites in the United States. We may also need to provide some satellite locations that receive webcasts of the services.

Starting from scratch is not something any of us like to do but there can be valuable lessons in doing so. In such a situation, we realize that we need to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33) and that we need to work together in unity.

Andre Van Belkum, from New Zealand, presented the closing address. He began by thanking everyone for the positive, encouraging environment at this conference. He then told a story about a potential aircraft disaster in which the pilot focused on the systems that were functioning and successfully landed the plane. "How can we stay positively focused?" he asked.

The example of the trial the Macedonian churches faced is instructive. Facing this "great trial of affliction," the brethren "first gave their own selves to the Lord" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). "First a willing mind" (verse 12) is also of critical importance.

Turning to James 1, Mr. Van Belkum then spoke of having joy when we face difficulties (verse 2) and asking for the wisdom of God (verse 5) to know how to move forward. He also cautioned that we must guard against pride and operate with humility.

The life of Elijah is also instructive. Though Elijah was discouraged, he came to realize that God was all powerful and fully capable of caring for His people. We have talented, capable men and we need to go to work. In Acts 14 we read that Paul was stoned. Yet we see that he rose up and went back to work preaching the gospel (verses 20, 21).

Christ has allowed all that has happened. He knows of this meeting. Let's pray for His direction. If we are faithful, we can be confident that God will finish His work in us (Philippians 1:6).

The conference came to an end with Todd Carey leading everyone in the hymn "All Things Work Together" and Greg Sargent giving a closing prayer. There were 876 English connections and 38 Spanish connections to today's meetings.

WCG2 (COGaWA) Janaury 10 Conference Updates

,COGaWA is looking to use the internet as their medium of choice for proclaiming their 'gospel'.

Conference Update

January 10, 2011 – Mike Hanisko, president of the temporary Board of Directors opened the meetings at 8:30 a.m. by asking Tom Diaz to lead the group in prayer.

The first order of business was to ballot upon two proposals for selecting the Interim Governance Team. Dave Baker, of the short-term governance committee, walked everyone through the balloting process. He explained that both options presented to the conference would result in the governing body performing the same duties and he provided a new handout that showed this more clearly than the one distributed the previous day. The improved wording came about as a result of discussions in the Sunday breakout sessions with elders.

After explaining the options and the processes involved with each, Mr. Baker invited all elders (both those who had served as salaried elders and non-salaried elders in our previous organization) to mark and turn in their ballots to the interim Secretary's team.

Dave Johnson then updated everyone on the administrative committee's work. "We have attempted to label and categorize the tasks that need to be accomplished by the Interim Leadership Team." Continuing, he informed everyone that the decision has been made that, with a few exceptions because of financial or other limitations, all established policies that existed in our previous organization will remain in effect until changes are made. Those currently working on administrative needs believe we can begin with a virtual office—that is, an operation without a physical building. The temporary board has approved using McNeely and McNeely as our accounting firm.


The committee recommends that each congregation establish a bank account with an Employer Identification Number (EIN). We do not encourage areas to collect tithes locally, but at this point that remains a local option. To begin, we will provide operating funds for congregations on a monthly basis rather than a quarterly basis. Areas that have funds beyond local start-up needs are asked to send them to the central organization.
Additionally, Mr. Johnson announced that we will immediately begin taking care of those relying upon the Church for financial assistance, including people such as widows and retirees from the ministry. A stipend representing a partial salary will be offered to pastors and other formerly salaried ministers who recently resigned or were terminated. Adjustments will be considered for those with special needs. Mileage reimbursement will initially be 25 cents per mile with a maximum of $500 per month. Since there is no Internet technology department to help ministers with computer needs, the committee suggested that ministers contact fellow ministers who have these skills or local members who are able to help. Gary Black will make a directory of ministers who are willing to help others.


As for credentialing elders, Mr. Johnson said that electronic forms will soon be sent to all elders, but the exact process of credentialing must yet be determined by the Interim Governance Team. New ordination certificates will be issued as soon as the credentialing is completed. The administrative team recommends that one person be named to oversee the administrative needs of the ministry and a personal correspondence team. Mr. Johnson also announced that he and others are looking into establishing a corporate email system, gathering congregational data and coordinating special needs services. We also need people to oversee human resources, media efforts, and financial matters he said. Initially, he believes only one or two full time employees will be needed to handle administrative needs.

Bruce Gore, Chairman of the long-term governance committee, updated everyone on the work of this committee. He thanked everyone for the input that has been given, including over 60 papers on this subject that have come from members and ministers. He noted that the papers represented the widest possible range of ideas.

He shared with everyone that the committee plans to offer several options for governance to the organization. If possible, we want to avoid mistakes of the past. Answering the question, "Can you guarantee that this won't happen again?" he said, "No. But we all want to reduce politics and the turnover of administrators. We also want to minimize the amount of balloting." The committee will recommend options for choosing governance that will emphasize choosing leaders based upon spiritual character and that will minimize choosing by name recognition.

Covering a few biblical principles, Mr. Gore pointed out that "able men" who are "men of truth" (Exodus 18:21) need to be selected to provide leadership. Some may be men of character but not have the skills that are needed for a particular job. In closing, he cited Proverbs 29:2 which says, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice." Please continue praying for us that we will find a way to make this happen he said. Ministers then broke into small groups to further discuss governance.

When everyone reconvened, Mike Hanisko announced the results of balloting for the Interim Governance Team. Having given prayerful consideration to both options, 37 elders chose option one and 84 chose option two. Therefore, the men who served on the Temporary Leadership Team and those who served on the Temporary Board now become the Interim Governance Team. Those serving on the Interim Leadership Team are Jim Franks, Doug Horchak, Clyde Kilough, David Register and Richard Thompson. Those serving on the Interim Board are George Evans, Ken Giese, Mike Hanisko, Greg Sargent and Roger West.
Richard Pinelli next addressed the care of congregations. Mr. Pinelli reported that we have 54 pastors and administrators from the United States plus 14 international pastors who have resigned or been fired from our previous organization. He then reviewed biblical passages showing that the ministry should be remunerated so they might give their full attention to pastoral and/or administrative duties. Returning to the men that are with us, he noted that these men have many gifts and abilities ranging from editorial skills to directing summer camps to coordinating Feast sites. They have very ably worn many hats and fulfilled many responsibilities in addition to pastoring. He said that our new organization will need these men to continue doing the work they have previously done.

Of immediate concern, he spoke of the need for pastors to "comfort those who mourn" (Isaiah 61:1-3). Pastors are already in place where many congregations have formed, but in some cases, congregations are coming together where there is no pastor. We are committed to caring for all of the brethren. Some of these congregations may have to initially be connected on the Sabbath via webcasts and phone line connections, but it is our intention to provide each with a pastor as soon as possible.

The afternoon session began with prayer by Jim Haeffele. Jim Franks then gave a presentation on doctrinal integrity. He began by sharing some history of the Sabbatarians in New England. On December 23, 1671, the first Sabbath keeping church was formed with seven people. Eventually, this church became the largest church in Rhode Island with over 2,000 members. The original seven members of the first Sabbath keeping church reluctantly severed their relationship with the Baptist Church because they believed they needed to obey God rather than man. They understood that doctrine is more than belief. Doctrinal integrity also requires acting upon those beliefs.

In 1995 we left our former organization over doctrine. But doctrine apart from conduct is insufficient. In 1995 we noted that if we don't have correct doctrine, we don't have anything and if we don't practice correct doctrine, we also don't have anything. Paul charged Timothy and Titus to give attention to doctrine, to preach doctrine and to practice doctrine. In Matthew 5 we see that Christ taught His followers doctrine. He emphasized that we must practice what we teach. Christ had harsh words for the Pharisees—those who taught the truth but didn't practice it. Everyone fails to practice sound doctrine perfectly, but only by repenting of our sins and living properly can we expect to please God.

Mr. Franks then shared a document establishing our commitment to doctrinal integrity. This includes the following principles:

1. We commit our support for the 20 fundamental beliefs as developed and approved by the elders in 1995.
2. We commit to establishing a doctrinal review process for all publications that contain doctrinal material, whether posted on the Internet or printed. This process must involve levels of review and include senior ministers known for their doctrinal integrity.
3. We commit to establishing a committee for doctrinal oversight, entrusted with the responsibility of resolving doctrinal conflict and answering doctrinal questions from within the organization, among the elders and among the membership.
4. We commit to providing a process by which any elder or member may submit doctrinal questions and/or material for doctrinal review. This process will provide for several levels of review by senior ministers.

Ken Treybig then gave a presentation on preaching the gospel. We want to assure everyone that we are committed to doing this he said. Continuing, he noted that we must fulfill the commission Christ gave the Church. How we can do this with a smaller group? Perhaps it will have to be done in a measured way, most likely with an Internet focus, but also with print. We can use many strategies including print on demand and videos.

Continuing, Mr. Treybig said that he believes we have just as much passion for doing this as ever. He also noted that in 1995 many of us began working with the development of literature—something that he now has a great zeal for doing. He then shared a story of how a new person learned about the Church via the Internet. Asking how many in room had received contacts from people who found the Church on the web, almost every hand was raised.

Mr. Treybig then explained that a leading marketing firm recently stated that the Internet is the loudest, most pervasive tool available for reaching people. Using biblical symbolism, the Internet is the loudest "trumpet" today. Media expert Steve Rubel predicts that by January 2014 almost all forms of tangible media will either be in sharp decline or completely extinct. Of course, this doesn't mean that print will disappear but it will likely be in decline.

Mr. Treybig then explained that we've been advised to develop one mega portal website through which all of our anticipated websites can operate. We also have many young people who want to get involved. He showed the home page of a potential new website designed by Kelly Cunningham. Additionally, he noted that we can purchase an Internet television channel for $7 a month. He also mentioned that he had learned last week that software is being developed that will translate material into any language—something that could be another great tool for us. In closing, he cited part of 1 Corinthians 9:16 saying, "Woe to us if we don't preach the gospel."


Education programs were next covered by David Register. He began by joking, "I can cover this very quickly. We have none." Continuing, he said, "But we are making plans. At this point, I can confidently report that we expect to have summer camps for our young people." Referring to the Church's commission in Matthew 28:19-20, he explained that making disciples means making someone a student and that we will continue this process, which the Church of God has followed since the first century.

He then referred to Acts 14:21-23 where Paul and Barnabas "made many disciples" and "appointed elders" to continue educating those whom God had called. This was an ongoing, instructive process that begins with a person's calling and continues until a person becomes part of God's family—in other words, from before one becomes fully a member of the Church until the end of that person's life or the return of Christ. He also noted that Daniel 11:32-33 speaks of the people of God instructing many. Reflecting on this, he noted that we have many capable teachers in this room who are anxious to continue.

Balloting for the name of the new organization was then conducted by Jon Pinelli, who outlined the five choices and explained how the list had been narrowed to that number.

Saul Langarica then gave the first of two international reports. On behalf of the ministers in Latin America he thanked everyone for his or her part in organizing this conference. He recalled how the late Herbert Armstrong at times had to put the Church back on track and stated that he believes that we now collectively share this weighty responsibility. Ministers and members in Latin America have been fasting and praying for this conference to occur he said. While some individuals might have timed matters differently, Mr. Langarica said he was personally convinced that this was God's time and the right time.

He stated that he is grateful for the mind of God, the Spirit of God at work in this conference. It was scary to be alone for several months. None of us wanted to be independent. We believe it is a miracle from God for all of us to be together again. He wondered if perhaps God allowed this to help us grow in unity so we can do the work together more powerfully. We are also grateful that God allowed us to continue serving so many brethren in Latin America. Four other ministers from Latin America are here in addition to Mr. Walker. In Latin America, 15 ministers are serving 1900 brethren. He said that his prayer is that we would not have to face this kind of trial again and that God will bless our efforts.

Kambani Banda then gave a report on Zambia. There are seven churches in this country with a regular church attendance of about 210. Three hundred ten attended the 2010 Feast of Tabernacles and 70 attended the youth camp. He gave credit to God for a phenomenal rate of growth in financial income over the past several years. Although the growth was small in actual numbers compared to an area such as the United States, it was a huge percentage of increase. Members from that country asked him to tell the ministers gathered here that voting is not good because it invites politics. At least that is what they have observed in their country. We are all praying for unity he said.

Richard Thompson closed the meeting with prayer. There were 1141 English connections and 48 Spanish connections to today's meetings.