Tools For Modern Day Apostles Volume II

These items are vital tools for Ambassadors of World Peace!

You too can talk to Mrs. Sadat about a world that is ready to be spanked!

Well, I guess that one came true........

Regency Silver Bowl  1818

Paul Storr

$15,000 - 25,000

Sold for $27,600.00

Regency Silver Soup Tureen, cover and liner

Paul Storr, 1814

$30,000-50,000

Sold for $28,750.00

 

Regency Silver-Gilt Wine Coolers

Paul Storr, 1813

$60,000-90,000

Sold for $107,000

George III Silver Tureen and Cover and Stand

Paul Storr, 1809

$40,000-60,000

Sold for $51,750.00

Regency Silver-gilt Centerpice

Paul Storr, 1818

$30,000-50,000

Three Bacchic Nymphs

Sold for $48,300.00

Twelve Regency Silver-Gilt Dinner Plates

Paul Storr, 1815

$30,000-50,000

Not listed as sold

Regency Silver Gilt Salver

Paul Storr, 1815

$2,000-3,000

Sold for $1,950.00

Duke of Norfolk's Coronation Cup

Paul Storr, 1831

$20,000-30,000

Sold for $18,400.00

Regency Silver-gilt Serving Tongs Made For The Prince Regent

Paul Storr, 1811

$6,000-8,000

Sold for $10,350.00

George III Silver Gilt Centerpiece

1803

$15,000-25,000

Sold for $40,250.00

George III Silver-gilt Centerpice

Paul Storr, 1808

$20,000-30,000

Sold for $52,900.00

George III Silver Wine Collers

Paul Storr 1798

$25,000-35,000

Sold for $48,300.00

George III Silver Epergne

1770

$8,000-12,000

Sold for $12,650.00

Charles II Silver Caudle Cup

1667

$3,000-5,000

Sold for $3,680.00

Six Queen Anne Silver Fluted Dishes

1713

$30,000-50,000

Sold for $74,000

What Gives Our Lives Meaning?

What Gives Our Lives Meaning?

One of the downsides, or so I am told, about losing faith in faith is that when you allow that to happen, you lose all meaning in your life.  It doesn't occur to some that it is not meaningful to base a life on something others say is just around the corner, over the next hill or to shortly come to pass and it isn't.  Sincere people who always look to the future for fulfillment and do not live in the present, which is the only real time there is, run the risk of almost having a life, but falling short.

How often in the last 50 years have you and I heard, "Time is short?"   Time can't be short of course, but what that meant was that our time is short or that this time in history is short or mostly that the gap between now and second coming has now grown short and soon it will all be ok.  Of course, "time is short," and "the things which must shortly come to pass," has been 2000 years in the making.  Humans don't see 2000 years as short.  Three to Five seems to be what short means to the piously convicted and  that "almost here" will occur in their short time span of life.  

The Apostle Paul just knew time was short.  He told the single to stay single, the married to think as if they weren't, the young women to think about Jesus and the young men to leave the young women alone.  The problem turns out to be that Paul was very wrong.  Time was not short and once he woke up to that fact, he left the scene bragging how he had kept the faith (the one he made up from his own view of the Cosmic Christ,) and that he had made it big time.   I wonder how many lives and relationships his "time is short" phase ruined?

This was after all, a man who thought marriage was so one could avoid fornication.  I still say Paul was a repressed gay man, but I spare you.

The entire New Testament, mostly written by Paul was very wrong about it's view of meaning.  Meaning in life for the characters in the NT was to make it into the Kingdom.  To hang in there.  Those who asked, "where is the promise of his coming?" were vilified and.  They were the "scoffers" whose end would be very very bad.  I guess it never occurred to anyone they were right.  The price for noticing that time was not short, Jesus had not returned as advertised by Paul and others and people were getting old enough to die in the faith was being told  their god was their belly and their end would be destruction.  Only when or if the Apostle declared that time was not short after all could the lucky brethren say it too. But you didn't think it before the guru gave you permission or he did not get the credit for coming up with it. 

However, the scoffers were correct in their observations. I can't find any apology from the Apostle Paul to the brethren at the end of his life for misleading them or for telling to be and act in ways that were going to cost them big time later as life ground on and Jesus still had not been given permission by God, who only really knew when, to return.  

If only God knows the day and hour, how come so many guys think they do too?  Oh I forgot, of the day an hour knows no man, but that does not mean we can't know the month or year.  Silly me.  

I still am enjoying watching the very Two Witnesses of Revelation, Mr. and Mrs. Ron Weinland (Ron I knew you when you were a kid, what happened to your mind?) come unglued.  Ron can't even get his sound systems to work consistently or his appendix to behave.  How is he going to come to strike the entire earth with fire, plague and fleas? 

 How does the COG manage to give birth to so many odd minister types? 

 I used to swim against Dave Pack. Could never beat the boy so I concentrated on beating my own times in events. What happened to that kid?  Was I really sitting in a hot tub in Chicago in the 70's with the future true and only Apostle of God on Earth and didn't know it?  Naw.....  What happens to people?  And who are the people that follow them and insist on hurting themselves with their continued support of said prophets, priests, apostles and kings?  

So back to the question.  Once you lose faith in the Plain Truth, which really would better to have been called the Present Truth, what meaning can your life possibly have?

The bottom line is that we actually assign our own meanings to life.  We even do that when we think we have found the one true way to be and think Biblically.  We find that for us and assign that as our meaning.  For others, it is meaningless to them.  

This is a very big topic, so I won't pretend to address all it's many aspects.  But I'd like to give one example of how life can have real meaning to any individual who has lost "the big picture,"  "the faith" or finds himself "off track" as we always used to hear when the work of the church was put back on another wrong track.  

Church of God members have been around on so many final gun laps that most have simply run out of  final lap bullets. That's not their fault, nor has it been mine. 

I just want to leave you with a story that spoke to me for some reason.  Maybe it touched the raw nerve of abandonment or resentment gone crazy.  Perhaps it raises the fact for me that I have failed myself in some important areas and let others down in my life.  The story made me feel like anything can be fixed if those who want to wish to.  It touched my "what is the meaning of all these crazy experiences?" button.  It's a Sunday morning. It's very quiet and it's just me and my new dog Chewy sitting here.  Well she is sitting her and it is actually me, not her doing the writing :)  I have eyes full of tears and a heart that just wants to understand what the hell happened over all those years?

So this story gives me meaning.  It must or I would not have reacted to it as I have. Perhaps it will give you some meaning, in the present,  as well...

James 2:15-17: "If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?  So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." ...and please, don't someone say, "it only says if they are a brother or sister in the Church...please don't say that...The last phone call I ever got from WCG when asking about retirement etc, the minister on the other end said, "no, but we will be praying for you and wish you the best..."

            "I was day tripping to Vancouver from Seattle 

and stopped in for lunch at a little cafe. 

From my window I saw a young teenage girl out in the cold, 

squatted down in a closed up business's doorway, 

holding a small bundle in her arms. 

She was panhandling, people were mostly walking by ignoring her. 

She looked just broken.
I finished up my meal and went outside,   
went through my wallet and thought I'd give her $5 for some food. 
I got up to her and she was sobbing, 
she looked like she was 14-15. 
And that bundle in her arms was a baby wrapped up. 
 I felt like I just got punched in the chest. 
She looked up putting on a game face and asked for any change, 
I asked her if she'd like some lunch.  
Right next door was a small quick-Trip type grocery store, 
I got a can of formula for the baby (very young, maybe 2-3 months old.), 
and took her back to the cafe though I'd just eaten. 
She was very thankful, got a burger and just inhaled it. 
Got her some pie and ice cream. 
She opened up and we talked. 
She was 15, got pregnant, parents were angry and she was fighting with them. 
She ran away. 
She's been gone almost 1 full year. 
I asked her if she'd like to go home and she got silent. 
I coaxed her, she said her parents wouldn't want her back. 
I coaxed further, she admitted she stole $5,000 in cash from her Dad. 
Turns out $5,000 doesn't last long at all, 
and the streets are tough on a 15 year old. 
Very tough. 
She did want to go back, 
but she was afraid no one wanted her back 
after what she did. 
We talked more, 
I wanted her to use my phone to call home but she wouldn't. 
I told her I'd call and see if her folks wanted to talk to her, 
she hesitated and gave bad excuses but eventually agreed. 
She dialed the number and I took the phone. 
Her Mom picked up and I said hello, 
awkwardly introduced myself and said her daughter would like to speak to her. 
Silence, and I heard crying. 
Gave the phone to the girl and she was just quiet listening to her Mom cry, 
and then said hello. And she cried. 
They talked,  she gave the phone back to me,
I talked to her Mom some more. 
I drove her down to the bus station and bought her a bus ticket home. 
Gave her $100 cash for incidentals, 
and some formula, diapers, wipes, snacks for the road. 
Got to the bus, and she just cried saying thank you over and over. 
I gave her a kiss on the forehead and a hug, kissed her baby, 
and she got on the bus. 
I get a Christmas card every year from her. 
She's 21 now and in college. 
Her name is Makayla and her baby was Joe.

Now let me ask you a question - would you feel like your life has meaning if you could do something like that for another human being?  This person spent a few hours, and a few dollars, and he changed not one but two lives, and probably the lives of her parents as well. 

 
You might be thinking, "How can I possibly duplicate that?" 

 
It would not be that hard to find someone to help. It would give you a good dose of meaning in life...

DenniscDiehl@aol.com 

Vital Tools For Modern Day Apostles (UPDATED)

Updated with final auction prices

More important tools 

that every modern day Apostle needs 

to 

preach the gospel 

about 

"A Strong Hand From Someplace."

Click on picture once to enlarge, then again for x-large closeup's

 Victorian Gilt Centerpiece  1888

Goddess Ceres in a field of wheat

$8,000-12,000

Sold for $23,300.00

 

Victorian Silver Four-light Candelabra  1857

$20,000-30,000

Sold for $57,500.00

 Victorian Silver-mounted Frosted-glass Claret Jug and Stand 1845

$4,000 - 6,000

George IV Silver Egg Cruet 1820

$2,500 - 3,500

(HWA had this on his breakfast table in the kitchen for his soft boiled eggs)
Sold for $27,600.00 

 Victorian Silver-gilt and Agate Desert Service 1854

$3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $4,370.00

 Victorian Silver Vase 1874

$2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $2,700.00
Edward VI Silver-gilt Warwick Vase
$5,000 - 8,000
Sold For $5,650.00

George IV Silver-gilt Wine Coolers 1826

$50,000 - 80,000
Sold for $74,000.00

Regency Silver Salver 1813

$7,000 - 10,000
Sold for $24,150.00

George IV Silver Tea and Coffee Service

$10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $16,100.00

Important Regency Silver-gold gilt Candelabra 1812

$80,000 - 120,000

Sold for $222,500.00

Ok, Who's Tellin' Fibs???

Ok, Who's Tellin' Fibs???

In my last posting about why the very plain statements made in the Gospels about prayer fell short of their goal no one really bothered to address the plainly stated scriptures.   Instead of any sane discussion about why these rather plain and unambiguous statements about prayer don't seem to be how prayer really works, it was a food fight.  I was attacked for being stupid enough to ask the questions and others were attacked for having their own perspectives which others thought were stupid.  Obviously we are not dealing with a naturally theologically curious audience at times.  

So let's try again.  Who's tellin' fibs here?  Luke the author of the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's apologist or Paul himself?

Let us begin.

After his conversion, did Paul go directly to Jerusalem to meet with those who were Apostles before him and actually are said to have known Jesus personally and spent much time with him?  Paul was the persecutor of the Christians and the Church before becoming a follower of it.  Paul never met Jesus personally and in all his writings, never quotes Jesus, tells of his life, miracles, healings or teachings.  Paul fails dozens of times to quote Jesus when it would serve him well to do so.  The fact is that Paul never heard the Gospel accounts of Jesus physical life. For Paul, Jesus came to him in hallucinations and visions. Paul died before the Gospels were written. 

At some point in his life Paul evidently "saw the light."  No really, he saw the light and heard the voices in his head.  Depending on which account you read, others with him either did or didn't hear the voice or see the light or stay standing or fall down, but that is another story.

But what did Paul do after he was converted?  Paul says of his own conversion...

Galatians 1:15-20 

 

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. ¹⁷ I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
 ¹⁸ Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas^a] and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 


Here Paul says plainly that what he is saying is no lie.  I suspect some one must have been accusing him lying about this or he would not have been so vehement to say he wasn't.  


Paul plainly says that he did not see any of the Apostles for three years.  Paul plainly says he went directly to Arabia, but fails to tell us why.  All sorts of crazy ideas have been put forth as to his reason for this trip and stay, but he simply does not say why.  Then, after three years, he goes to Jerusalem,  see's Cephas and stays with him for 15 days but sees no others except James the Lord's brother.  


That's pretty simple.  Paul said he was called from his mother's womb (Like Jeremiah, Jesus and John--how humble of him).  There is no hint of the Damascus road story.
ON THE OTHER HAND....


Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, which tells a  really short story to get the Jerusalem Apostles off the stage while the real and much longer majority of the story is mostly about the Apostle Paul. 


According to Acts 9, IMMEDIATELY after Paul converted he spent some time in Damascus "with the disciples," and when he left Damascus he headed IMMEDIATELY to Jerusalem where he met the apostles of Jesus  (Acts 9:19-30).  On all counts and every w


Did Paul spend time with the Apostle immediately (Acts) or not (Paul in Galatians)?  Did he go straight to Jerusalem (Acts) or not (Paul in Galatians).  Did he meet with a group of Apostles (Acts) or  just with Peter and James  (Paul)?


In fact, Paul, who is not lying, appears to want it made clear that his Gospel did not come from any of Jesus Apostles. Paul wanted his Gospel to be clearly understood to have come through him.  Paul makes it clear that to disagree with him is to disagree with God. Paul calls Peter, James and John "reputed pillars."  Paul goes on in Galatians to say, "who they are makes no difference to me. I learned NOTHING from them."   


Clearly Paul thought he was Herbert Armstrong, Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack and Ron Weinland preincarnated.  


Luke, on the other hand, makes every effort to make what was not true, that Paul and the Jerusalem Church were on the same side, to seem true.  Luke does his best to show that Paul and the Jerusalem Church were team players, spoke the same thing and had the same Gospel message.  There could be nothing more far from the truth than this fairy tale Luke has made up in the Acts of the Apostles.


Both accounts of Paul's conversion cannot be true.  Either one is true and one is the lie (Paul said his version was not the lie), or both versions are false and the truth lies elsewhere unknown to us.  They can't BOTH be true.  They simply are two completely different accounts of how Paul is said to have come to be converted to the Jesus movement and what he did immediately after. 


So which is it?   


If I had to pick, I'd say Paul would know his own story best and since Paul actually did write Galatians, he would know. Someone was calling Paul a liar. (Not the only time by the way) and indeed, Paul did lie from time to time but we will save that for another time. 


Luke's version is the false version. There was no Damascus Road event according to Paul. If you look at Luke's accounts of that tale, you will see Luke could not get it straight with the telling. But that's another story.    
So who's fibbin' and why?

DenniscDiehl@aol.com 

UCG Tonga Resignation

COGaWA (WCG2)Premiers It's Website

WCG2/Church of God a Worldwide Association has its new official web site up.  You can follow along as little Joel talks about his superfantastic trips around the world and Ralphie talks about single life.  Such fun!

 

Church of God a Worldwide Association 

An Angry Reader Responds

From: juanwhoknows@_____.com
To: DenniscDiehl@aol.com
Sent: 2/10/2011 12:02:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: your hwa banned blog

I've been reading your 'anti-armstrong/no-god' blog for some weeks, following the UCG-COGaWa debacle, and since you're into highly original comments, here's one I bet you haven't heard (1000 times yet):

Psalms 14:1  ... The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

This pretty much sums up your blog....foolish, bitter, myopic, predictable, rambling, and often typographically-challenged (lots of misspellings)....

Even with all the mutual 'crap' you've compiled from myriad other myopic self-promoting vilifiers, your personal scope of the entire HWA-WCG experience can never be more than very minuscule, personal and hopelessly arbitrary.

Even if what little you say about HWA and the WCG and splinters is basically true, the remaining 99.999% of the unfathomable experience goes completely unconsidered....so much for minimal accuracy (less than 0.001%) and objectivity. You should reconsider such a colossal blunder of short-sightedness; its as if you are STILL operating like a WCG minister.

To live a life of no hope (atheism) is miserable compared to an active life of FAITH.  When a believer is in trouble he cries out "O 'God,' help me!"  And when he is eventually saved, he is thankful.  What do you cry out?  "Oh God" or "G. D. it," I'm sure....because you can't completely wipe out the pre-programmed knowledge of the Creator from your mental ROM, can you? Because HWA didn't put THAT there.

Since no one will know that there is "god," until he sees him in the flesh or dies (no I didn't just contradict myself), a wise man chooses to believe in the Creator rather than not.  He reasons that the positive benefits of a life of FAITH greatly outweigh the crushing loneliness, purposelessness and bitterness that always accompany ATHEISM.  And if there turns out to be no 'god' in the end, it was still a greatly improved life. If there is 'god,' then the 'unprofitable servant' goes into an unimaginable bonus round.

Yet, so what if there's no reward after this life? If you're doing it for the reward, is that agape love? or, like all the self-seeking folks you describe in your blog, just for personal gain?  FAITH in the Creator is a worthwhile mindset even without the resurrection, pal.

The bottom-line question for me: is the m.o.of your blog really any better than that of the people whose actions you consistently paint as diabolical, stupid, and clueless?  Are you not doing the same thing that you did when you were a WCG minister? Then what a waste of time if you believe what you blog....

Because, like Job (another guy who thought he had this 'god thing' figured out), you might actually be WRONG about all this 'religion is big business' and 'the opium of the people' stuff.

For me, if a life of great joy, accomplishment, and worthwhile experiences, plus agony, long sadness, hard times and tragedy (most of which was my own fault) has not dimmed my faith in the Creator, how could your little toxic blip of a blog possibly hope to make a dent in anyone else's? 

If there is "god," you're still serving his purpose in another way without knowing it. If there is no "god," then you're still blogging about NOTHING after all these years and that every single day.

Again, what a waste of life....why not tell us about your stamp collection or how you felt when you first became a father?  Contributing something positive to the aggregate....

"A-dios!" whoops, sorry, "A-nihilos, amigo!"

_________________________________________________________________________________
FYI Juan:


I don't expect you or anyone else to agree with what is posted on this blog. One of the main problems with Armstrongism is that people checked their brains when they were baptized or whenever they read the latest booklet put out by one of the various "One and ONLY True Ministers of God left on earth today." 


The Armstrongite thought process only involves the 'revealed word of HWA, Meredith, Flurry, or some other leader who has interpreted the Bible according to THEIR viewpoint.  The members of these churches are expected to follow THEIR rulings and doctrines.  Reading other literature, theology books or writings done by non-COG members is frowned upon and blatantly forbidden by some.  Questioning is NOT an option in Armstrongism.  It wasn't under HWA at any point in time.  It still is not under Meredith, Flurry, Hulme, Pack, Cox, etc.


Real spiritual seekers continually ask questions, and have no problem in wrestling with scripture and doctrine   If you truly believe the Bible stories you read you would quickly see that many of  those men and women wrestled with, argued with and bargained with their God. You would see that more than 5 different writers contributed to Genesis.  That there were several authors to Isaiah, that many of the days and traditions kept by the Israelites were patterned after neighboring 'pagan' peoples, that James and Paul argued over who knew Jesus the best and how to interpret his word.  You would know that much of the Bible is myth and allegory. And, if you knew the meaning of myth and not today's meaning you would find value in these stories even though they aren't literal.  You would also know that the Bible tells the story of messy people, living messy lives who never quit got it right. It is not a story about people living lives of perfection or constantly having to DO the right thing.


I spent over 45 years in Armstrongism.  I was two when my mother joined and we drove 150 each way to church.  Grew up in the church, came to its Pasadena campus, worked for the church and even work in HWA's home for close to 15 years.  I can tell you stories that make anything posted here look like nursery rhymes.


I am not angry with the church.  There were some good times to be had.  I would never have traveled around the world like I have if it wasn't for the church.  However, there is regret for the lost and wasted years, the lost opportunities and a screwed up faith that was damaged by the cultish irrelvent nonsense of Herbert Armstrong and his minions.  I learned a long time ago to laugh and and have fun with the crap we all put up with.  That is the only way you can retain your sanity. Those of us that have recovered  from the filth now don't want to see others hurt by it.  So we post the silly happenings, the arrogant words, and  the lies of the various splinter cults and their leaders so it is all in black and white for the world to see.


Yet through it all, I never lost that spark that keeps me coming back to God.  That's why I am a lay minister in a local church, serve in numerous ways in the church and in the community.  I would much rather surround myself with agnostics, atheists and those that question their beliefs than those who are so mind numbingly close minded they refuse to use their brains.


I may not agree with everything Dennis writes, but the majority I do.  Those things that I don't agree with I look at as a new way of looking at things I had never thought about before.  I may not agree, but I do allow it to cause me to think.


Dennis is more than welcome to post there.  When he can jar the minds of those entrenched in the ethically and morally bankrupt churches of Armstrongism then he is welcome to post any damn time he wants.


This includes the other people that send me information too!


Gary

UCG: Everything is all Daffodils and Cute Bunnies

Reading UCG Realtime you would think UCG has had only a minor little hiccup in their organizational structure and everything is phantasmagorically fabulous!  Pretty daffodils and bunnies playing in the fields of the Lord....

Here is their list of hiccups laid out:

For your information, in early 2010, there were 492 credentialed elders in the United Church of God, an International Association. Of that number, 323 (66%) are still with UCG. Of that total, we have retained 62 of 131 salaried field ministers (47%); 15 of 20 elders salaried by the home office (75%); 9 of 14 retired elders (64%); and 237 of 327 non-salaried elders (73%).
In the United States, we have retained 250 of 382 elders (65%). Of that total, we have retained 46 of 100 salaried field ministers and 180 of 248 non-salaried elders (73%).

Is It a Sin to Notice Prayer Doesn't Work as Advertised?

Is It a Sin to Notice Prayer Doesn't Work as Advertised?

This is a tough one.  The faithful will get defensive on the outside but know what I'm asking is true on the inside.  Apologetics will follow along "But God still knows what's best for us,"  "The wisdom of man is foolishness with God,"  "My ways are not your ways,"  "There is a way that SEEMS right unto a man, but...."  "The wisdom of man is foolishness with God," and so on.  God always wins.

But is so bad to simply ask based on experience and observation, what do these promises mean if there is a God behind them with the power to do as stated?

"Dear God,  I need rent money.... "

"No"

"Dear God, bless our Church and help the work to grow."

"No"

Dear God,  please heal my cancer, my condition, my life, my heart, my soul, my illness."

"No"

"Dear God, Please let my child live..."
"No"

 

I think we get the point.

 Matthew 7:7   "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

 

 Matthew 17:20  He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

 

 Matthew 21:21  Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

 

 Mark 11:24  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

 

 John 14:12-14  Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

 

, Matthew 18:19 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  

 James 5:1-16  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 

So here we go.  

"Dear Heavenly Father.  Thank you for my life and for calling me into the truth.  Please bless the work of God. Please watch over Mr. Armstrong and bless the college.  Thank you for your mercy and bringing me here to learn more about your word.  Help me to be a good student and to learn all that is taught to me of your truth. Please use me in you're work because that is why I have come these 3000 miles against my family's wishes for.  I promise to teach faithfully and with a humble spirit. . Thank you that you have allowed them not to question the wisdom of this choice.  Please use me someday in your work.  I came here to study your word and learn your ways. I do wish to help your people as a minister.

Please watch over all the children whose Angels do watch over them.  Protect them and love them so they can also come into your truth.  Bless Mr. Armstrong and all the ministry with wisdom and true love for the brethren.  Protect your work from those that would harm it.  Help me to inspire and teach your people correctly 
and to be patient with those who don't understand.  

Thank you so much that I have found the truth and a church that is united in hope and doctrine and one in charity and love. " 

I think we get the point here. Just make up your own or remember the ones you offered up.  We all know how well those requests all went.  The Church tanked, the truth changed, New errors were added to or replaced older ones. Mr. Armstrong was not a man to listen to advice and council.  The college tanked along with all congregations for the most part. Unity and Harmony was a joke.  Children whose Angels do watch over them were killed for inattention, mistakes in where they swam or how not to look at a gun.  Many died not seeing that car or forgetting to pay attention to driving when driving.  Oh yes, don't forget falling under a hedge hog mower or those crushed under the weight of farm machinery.  And when all else failed, remember those surviving parents who were not comforted by "You'll see them again in the kingdom,"  "At least you have other children,"  "God won't give you more than you can handle,"  or "God's ways are not YOUR ways."

Have you ever asked for something, even something that was good and right and would be of great encouragement and deeply appreciated, and gotten it?

Have you asked Go

Do you think it would be wise if whenever anyone asked for anything, they got it?  

Do you wonder why when it says you will, you never did or don't?

If the Bible is seriously true and tells the real truth about how life can work for those called according to his purpose, something is seriously wrong here.

Has your faith ever moved a mountain?  Does this mean that the best faith I ever had was not even as big as a mustard seed so it's all our fault anyhow?  If nothing is impossible for me, does the impossible ever really happen when I ask, seek and endeavor to find?  Of course not.  

I remember sitting in a feast audience as the minister of the day was raving about how God intervened and saved a congregant's child from a terrible auto wreck.  He went on and on quoting all the right scriptures and I cringed.  I had just buried the teen killed in a wreck of people sitting a few rows over from me.  I imagine in an audience of a few thousand, scores are sitting there feeling faithless and cursed because "in my house it was not so."   At the noon ministerial luncheon I talked to him about it.  While I understood what he meant, I asked him if he realized there are dozens of parents now unable to eat their lunch because God did nothing of what he promised to their children.  I asked him if he realized the pain he caused to many more than just the good spoken of for one.  I asked him to think about the wisdom of that and maybe he needed to be more careful in the future. He just looked at me like I was nuts. 

 It reminds me of David saying,  "I have been young and now I am old and I have NEVER seen a righteous man beg bread."  Really David?  Did you ever get out of the Palace much?  I've seen that a lot.

I have laid hands on hundreds and hundreds of very sick people.  Let's see.  How many were healed of death dealing illness such as cancer?  How many of the blind did I restore or deaf came to hear again?  In my youthful ministry and the week after I was ordained a local elder I had my first opportunity to anoint someone.  I have never told this story that I remember and know my family does not know this.  I anointed my own brother who is literally blind, deaf and cannot speak.  Birth defects and trauma.  We sat on the bed upstairs in the home of my youth. I layed hands on his head and he made his typical noises wondering what I was doing but took it all rather patiently.  I said something like....

Dear Heavenly Father,  I come to you for the first time in my life as a minister in your church.  I can now follow James 5:14-16 and anoint your people who you promised to hear if they called upon you. ( I know, my brother didn't ask me to do this, but he couldn't remember?! )  I ask you to restore my brother's sight. I know this sounds impossible but please restore his missing eye that he lost to glaucoma when he was 12.  Please restore his hearing and in your mercy, please restore his speech.  How impressed and grateful my parents would be!  We know your word and what you say about this. Please hear me and thank you for placing me in the ministry...In Jesus name....amen.

Well, I meant well.  Of course he is still blind and deaf and can't speak.  Actually he's on Social Security now, lives in a huge group home and has someone who advocates for him because he can't.  I have to say he has done better than I have to this point.  Maybe it's a joke on me.  Yeah that's it!  I would be better of in life after WCG promised for years "we will take care of you," (boy did they) by poking my eyes out, cutting out my vocal cords and pouring superglue in my ears.  The Kingdoms of this world at least would have helped me out a bit.  

"Ask anything," "I will do it,"  "Anyone,"  "Whatever you ask,"  "...will raise the sick,"   are very big promises.  They also are not true.  

Oh I know, "Dennis, you don't have any faith."But God still knows what's best for us,"  "The wisdom of man is foolishness with God,"  "My ways are not your ways,"  "There is a way that SEEMS right unto a man, but...."  "The wisdom of man is foolishness with God," and so on.  God always wins.  The requester is always wrong and has totally missed the true intent of what God meant.  "Let all men be found liars..." or something like that.

"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them."  Really?  Where is this going on?  My experience is that where two or three are gathered together in your name, one declares themselves in charge, one gets to follow and one get's to clean up after the first two. I guess I missed something in my experience.

Remember, these are not just philosophers pontificating in their Ivory Towers.  This is what JESUS said.  Nothing could be more clear if it wasn't so iffy and untrue.  I expect if we gathered thousands of really true Christians and they all strictly went by these teachings of JESUS, and we all prayed for all war to stop, all disease to end, all hate to become love and for all God's children who are red and yellow, black and white and are precious in his sight to go to bed fed and loved from now on, we'd know how it would go.  

It's still going that way.

Don't tell me this will all be fixed in the Kingdom.  Don't tell me God just hasn't answered yet or that "sometimes the answer is no."  I can deal with sometimes, but not never since these are the clear teachings of Jesus and the really true Apostles. 

A word from the pagan, uncalled, uninspired, unfaithful, unchristian Epicurus, know for his epicurean paradox.

"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?" — Epicurus, as quoted in 2000 Years of Disbelief
I could not have said it better myself.  Am I the only one who notices this or dares to speak it?  Did Jesus lie or not mean what we think he meant?  Does healing not mean healing or given not mean given?  Is the Bible speaking in some kind of code we can't figure out or just being plain wrong and lying about how it all is? 
"Grandfather...is this some kind of joke?"

Warm regards on these hot topics...

Dennis Diehl...formerly called "Mr."  :)

DenniscDiehl@aol.com 
 

The Church of God: The Center of the Universe?

Armstrongism has always thought of it's self as the center of the universe, the holder of all things Godly and pure, and home of the righteous faithful remnant.  This should put it all into perspective considering that Armstrongism has now splintered into well over 700 different personality cults.