Let's put an end to this foolish interpretation of Isaiah 28 once and for all! :)

How often we have heard Isaiah 28:9 is THE WAY ONE STUDIES THE BIBLE?  God's truth is scattered all over the place from Genesis to Revelation and only the true church, apostles, priests and kings approved by God have the combo.  The reason there are so many false churches or teachers in Christianity is because most, save for the elect, simply get the scriptures in either the wrong order or leave out the ones they don't like.  Ha!  Like ALL Churches don't do that!

Anyway, Val says:

"The Bible that must be studied the hard way of here a little and there a little for solving the hidden pieces of line upon line to rightly separate the word of love is the King James Version, the other versions have been altered for the convenience of man."

How about we once and for all lay this ignorant interpretation of scripture to rest and show ourselves, or at least those who are not invested in the above interpretation as being the correct Bible Study Formula, to be a ridiculous way to view this passage. 

First, read it in context.  I know, I know.  Crazy idea for sure, but give it a try.  CONTEXT!

Isaiah 28:

	Verse
1.	Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are smitten down with wine!
2.	Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, as a storm of mighty waters overflowing, that casteth down to the earth with violence.
3.	The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot;
4.	And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer, which when one looketh upon it, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
5.	In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of His people;
6.	And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate. Comment: The strange mingling of severe warnings and gentle promises of hope, especially noted in this chapter, is the result of Isaiah's discrimination between the leaders who are principally to blame for the approaching disaster and the rank and file of the people who are being misled. "He varies his tone and manner,"F4 accordingly as he addresses first one group, then another.    Verse two identifies God's instrument of destruction as the empire of the Assyrians, metaphorically described here as (1) a hail, (2) a destroying storm, and (3) as a devastating flood. The Assyrians were ready and would soon destroy Ephraim; but the Ephraimites continued to lead lives of, "libertinism and debauchery, in which even the clergy participated with disgusting excess." Their egotistical and boastful over-confidence was noted by Rawlinson: "They said in their hearts, `We have taken to ourselves horns by our own strength' (Amos 6:4,5). They persisted in regarding themselves as secure."   The practical interpretation of Isa. 28:3 means that when the king of Assyria sees Samaria he will immediately take it and eat it up. It also indicates the ease with which Samaria would be taken. Its siege lasted less than three years (2 Kings 18:9,10); whereas the siege of Ashdod, according to Herodotus lasted 29 years, and that of Tyre lasted 13 years.  ...Isaiah turned his attention at once to the same shameful conduct in Judaea that existed in Ephraim.
7.	But these also reel through wine, and stagger through strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel through strong drink, they are confused because of wine, they stagger because of strong drink; they reel in vision, they totter in judgment.
8.	For all tables are full of filthy vomit, and no place is clean. Comment: If Isa. 28:5-6 are considered as a parenthesis, which they manifestly are, then these words are a continued description of the debaucheries of Ephraim. Some have tried to explain the drunkenness of Ephraim as A "spiritual" error; but the description of reeling, staggering, etc. is powerful evidence of common intoxication. Payne properly discerned this as an affirmation that, "Priests and prophets in the northern kingdom were no better than ordinary citizens."
9.	Whom shall one teach knowledge? And whom shall one make to understand the message? Them that are weaned from the milk, them that are drawn from the breasts?
10.	For it is precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line; here a little, there a little. Comment: We might paraphrase this mockery of Isaiah by the drunken rulers and leaders of Ephraim thus: Why, who does this man think he is teaching, a group of babies who have just been weaned? Is he trying to teach us our ABC's? These silly little sayings of his are nothing at all. They are just rule, rule, rule and law, law, law! J. B. Phillips has this, "Are we just weaned ... Do we have to learn that The law is the law is the law, the rule is the rule is the rule?" Such a mockery indicates that Isaiah's teachings might have been very simple and monosyllabic. Isaiah might have used the stammering, monosyllables of drunkards to announce some of his teachings. In any case, his hearers hated it! God, through Isaiah, at once responded to the mockery.
11.	For with stammering lips and with a strange tongue shall it be spoken to this people; i.e the Assyrians
12.	To whom it was said: 'This is the rest, give ye rest to the weary; and this is the refreshing'; yet they would not hear.
13.	And so the word of the LORD is unto them precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Comment: The thought is, Very well, you reject Isaiah's messages from God; I will speak to you with the words of a cruel invader. You pretend not to understand what God says; but you will really not be able to understand the brutal language of your slave masters in Assyria.
14.	Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scoffers, the ballad-mongers of this people which is in Jerusalem:
15.	Because ye have said: 'We have made a covenant with death, and with the nether-world are we at agreement; when the scouring scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood have we hid ourselves';
16.	Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a costly corner-stone of sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.
	Summary: Isaiah is telling Ephraim that Assyria is barking up their butts. Ephraim's leaders are a bunch of vomiting drunks.  (Resist Douglas! :) The drunken leaders mock Isaiah  in the form of "blah, blah, blah you say... Do you think we are babies at the breast?  Isaiah it is YOU who sounds like a baby with your blather...wha wha wha."  ("here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept"  I know this sounds more official, but the original tone was mockery.) Isaiah responds with, "Oh yeah, well you'll see if it is baby talk.  God is going to spank you.  (Sorry couldn't resist:), and you won't think it's baby talk then."   Sorry Val....but thanks for playing.  Like ALL of the COGs, you got this o totally out of context and what you see as THE way to study the Bible is merely phrases used as mockery of Isaiah and then God of Ephraim in response.   You have, like many, managed to make a scripture mean what it never meant. Warm Regards Dennis DenniscDiehl@aol.com

New COG Prophetess Arises: Meet Prophet Val

It's not often that the Churches of God are graced with female prophets.  What's that I said?  A female COG prophet?  Never!  God does not allow it.  Sure we have had a few women here and there that have popped up over the years claiming that they had a message from God.  However, none have ever been as bold as our new self appointed prophet.


Armstrongism's prophets have always been men.  HWA, GTA, Meredith, Flurry, Pack, Cox, Weinland, Waterhouse, etc.  These are men who self-appointed themselves to be the mouthpiece for God. God reveals himself through these men and the world had better sit up and listen.  Otherwise, you will be SPANKED!

Women are to be submissive to men and not rule over them.  They are not to speak in churches or instruct men.  They are to keep their heads covered while in church.  Or, so says Armstrongism ministers.  

Rejoice ye minions!  Your new oracle has arrived with a message from God proving to all doubters that she is an end time prophet:

It is written: One woman delivers the true word John1:1, Rev 12:5, Rev 12:13 that restores Acts 3:21 all things to the world before Christ’s return. She exposes the lies of Satan who has deceived the whole world Rev 12:9. She creates a new thing in the earth fulfilling God’s promise to Eve Gen 3:15, Jer 31:22, Isa 14:16. She is like Moses Acts 3:22, Num 12:3 and she is like Elijah Matt 17:11  her witness alone from the wilderness Rev 12:6  turns the hearts of the fathers to the children Mal 4:5-6 to prepare a people for the coming millennium before the great and dreadful day of the Lord Matt 17:3, Luke 9:30. Moses and Elijah are together with the word Matt 17:3. These three are in this woman. Woe on those who claim to be Christians but refuse to hear Acts 3:23 the true word of God commanded to be written and delivered to the world free of charge, as a witness and a warning Rev 12:12-13, at the heel of time.  This true word delivered turns the hearts of the fathers to the children of God by giving the truth that not one child of God will be put in a hell fire no matter what their sins. It never entered the heart or mind of God to do such a thing Jer 7:31, Jer 19:5. God created evil Isa 45:7 to teach his children the knowledge of good and evil Rom 8:7, Gen 3:22 so that at their resurrection they are ready to become a god Matt 22:29-30, Ps 82:6. Prove all things. Be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. You cannot rightly judge this unless you read all that has been written. I am she. A true witness delivereth1 Pet 2:5, 1 Pet 2:9. souls… all souls are now delivered Pro 14:25,

Say hello to the Church of  God's new prophet:  Hello Val!

Val also has this to say about the Bible  (KJV only, of course).

The Bible that must be studied the hard way of here a little and there a little for solving the hidden pieces of line upon line to rightly separate the word of love is the King James Version, the other versions have been altered for the convenience of man. God began this end time country with the King James Bible plus he provided study aids to go with this Bible. Other versions are helpful to more easily understand by today's language but the hidden things cannot clearly be seen in the other versions until you have solved the puzzles first in the King James Version. Satan is the author of confusion(1 Cor 14:33). He inspired several different Bible versions all with the deceptive notion of making us think that the word of God would be easier for us to understand. But actually the other versions hide the way for us to see truth by blocking our ability to study precept on precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little as God instructed us in Isa 28:9-10.

A warning to all of you scoffers.  If you reject Val you reject God!

Some preachers have taught that the woman of Revelation 12 is a church. I believed this too at the time. This is because no one could ever imagine God giving a woman the boldness in the Holy Spirit to stand against Satan’s lies alone to deliver the true word of God to the world from the wilderness of cyberspace, (Rev 12:5-6) it is indeed a tall order for one to do. But nothing is impossible for God to do. He will accomplish all his will, I am living proof.
The true word of God now delivered is proven by the true word that is rightly divided on this website (Luke 1:17). If you reject his almighty word of power now delivered, you reject him.

Val also seems to have been listening to Spanky Meredith a little too much:

I did not want to do this and I told God so in 2006. I wanted my Christian life to be easy. It had taken me a long time to finally have a church family. God spanked me hard for this attitude.

I was so very heart broken and deeply pained (Rev 12:2) when my church family shunned me as crazy because of the true word that was growing inside me. I could not understand how others professing the Holy Spirit could treat me so unkind, especially when what I was telling them was of God (love). I asked God why? He told me, it is because they are lukewarm. He said, “they have a form of godliness but they deny my power” (2 Tim 3:5). All prophecies will be fulfilled. I too now say “not my will but thine be done”. I write all that he inspires; I do not want any more spankings. (emphasis mine)

 Val claims she is now turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children's hearts to their fathers.   HWA was not capable of doing that. Meredith still has not.  Weinland has not.  Flurry is an abysmal failure at it since he has deliberately broken hundreds of families apart and destroyed parent/child relationships.  Satan is also preparing to swiftly attack her:

Some preachers have taught that the two wings of a great eagle is an airplane that they think will fly this church worth of people into the wilderness. This is not true; when Satan tries to destroy me (Rev 12:17) there will be no time for anyone to board a plane let alone a whole congregation to then take off into the air. The fact is his attack will be so swift that the earth has to open up to help me (Rev 12:16). As Elijah was taken into the air (2 Kings 2:1) so will happen for me (Rev 12:13-14). This website does turn the hearts of the fathers to the children by the word and will of God to prepare a people with his everlasting love for the coming millennial rule of Christ.

She also seems to have the disease of Meredithism - spanking.  She talks about spanking a lot!

How does our invisible Father get our mortal attention? It is through trials and spankings of which we all are partakers

Like all good prophets, Val has written a book. Not a real book, but a pdf book.  The Good Tale

You can checkout Val's mighty words of malarkey here:  Prophet Val

Knock, Knock. Who's There? Another Armstrongite 'prophet', That's Who!

Move over HWA!  Move over Meredith!  Move over Flurry, Pack, Weinland, Cox!  You have new competition!  Well, actually you don't.  You are worthless, irrelvant, apostates who do not know the real god.


A new 'voice' is crying out in the wilderness and is here to save all of you lazy, good for nothing, smelly Laodiceans.  It is another HWA necromancy site. It's all things Herb, all the time. Lot's of cheesy videos of a nutjob that quickly grates on your ears after the first introduction! The Laodicean Knock


There are no true ministers of God left on earth except for this guy.:   L F Maschio  

At least Maschio has a new angle.  Instead of a god giddy with excitement about SPANKING the world with hoards of marching Germans or raging Islamic hoards, Maschio's god is year to 'knock' you.

After being a member, and serving for many years in different  organizations “both tyrannical and liberal”. Mr. Maschio was forced to conclude  that  every senior minister privileged to be ordained during the   Philadelphian era (of which we are aware) have either compromised  themselves,  become corrupt, or strayed from the faith. 

After the death of Herbert W Armstrong, men such as Garner Ted Armstrong, Gerald Flurry, Roderick C. Meredith, David C. Pack, David Hulme, Ronald Weinland and many others have dominated the landscape of Laodicea. Since then, the fruits of the collective ministry of groups such as the PCG, LCG, RCG, UCG, etc. have produced heresy, division, compromise, slander, failed prophecies, and self-righteousness!
These fruits have prompted the LIVING JESUS CHRIST into The Prophesied call to action in the form of a KNOCK to Laodicea.

Iranium: "The Humanity of Women Has Been Stripped Away"

The women

The Children

The SUN/SON Has Risen...and Most People Missed It!

The SUN/SON Has Risen...and Most People Missed It!

Yesterday, March 20th, someone said to me, "Hey, today is the first day of spring." I said yep, sure is and asked if he knew why today was the chosen day. He did not know but rather thought that someone just picked this date as the official start of the season. "No," I said. "Actually yesterday at 7:21 PM The Sun was crossified by finally landing smack at the intersection of the Celestial Equator as projected from our earthly equator into space, and the Ecliptic, which is the line in the sky that the sun appears to follow in it's one year journery through the signs of the Zodiac." He just looked at me and said, "Oh."




Yesterday was a very important day in the sky, which is a place very few humans ever take time to look up into at night, much less understand how it works. But in fact, yesterday, The Sun of God was Crucified on the beams of those two lines in space that yesterday gave us the equinox, which means "equal night."




Yesterday the day and night was just about 12 hours long each. Now the sun heads more north from it's cold beginning on Christmas to it's highest point of summer on June 22nd where the day is the longest and the night the shortest. After that, the Sun heads south to Autumn where once again at the Vernal Equinox, we have equal day and night and then on to December and the winter solstice where the Sun dies, spends three days in the grave and is is born, of a virgin/virgo on December 25th. That was a small taste of astro-theology and a story that the vast majority of literalist Christians will never understand because they will never want to undertsand it.




For example, when John the Baptist, who is born six months before Jesus says, "I must decrease, while he must increase," in astro-theological terms he was saying that from June (six months before December) John was now diminishing as the one who prepared the way for the Sun/Son of God, but now Jesus, the Son or the literal sun, will increase, that is from December 25th to the Summer Solstice, the Sun will grow stronger.




It is interesting that Matthew places Jesus in summer at the top of Mt. Tabor transfiguring into the literal sun or at least as one who shines brighter than the sun. I have been to Mt. Tabor.  More of a mound actually. You'd think someone may have noticed that from afar, but seems only those present saw this "bright as the sun" look. Jesus at the Summer Solstice, The SUN of God, is at his peak and in his best form. After the Summer Solstice, the ministry of the SUN/SON will head back down to death in the dark of winter, betrayal, imprisonment and death, to be born all over again.




But let's not stray from the wonder of the Spring Equinox, which passed mostly unnoticed yesterday. It is from this celestial event that the Christian church takes it cue for determining Easter. No the Spring Equinox IS the true EASTER. Yesterday the SUN of God rose due East for the first time and set due West last night. That's why the day and night were of equal length, yesterday.




Most pagan god/men are born on December 25th on the beginning day of the Sun's journey back to dominance in the summer sky. Most were considered crossified on the Equinox in March on the intersections of the celestial equator and the ecliptic. I have the Starry Night computer program where I can program in all the dates and just watch this wonderful reality unfold on my laptop. Very cool stuff. Punch in any December 25th and one will see at sunrise the SUN of God being brought forth by Virgo the Virgin. Hmmmm, wonder where that concept shows up again! Seems the Virgin does conceive and bring for the SUN, at least every December 25th. Just a coincidence no doubt :P




Another concept we can glean from the astro-theology of Springtime is that the SUN Passes Over and delivers the people from their darkness and sin. This is the theme, of course of the Exodus and the Passover, which is also celebrated in the Spring. Yesterday was not Passover for the Jewish People; that will come on the 14th of Nisan as they mark time, but that is very soon and close or not close to our Easter, depending. In any case, it also celebrates the deliverance of Israelites from Egypt, which is the same as being delivered from the darkness of sin in Egypt into "HIS" glorious light. Christians have christianised the Passover as well and made Jesus it's star meaning. "For Christ is our Passover..." The Son is our Passover. The Sun has Passed Over and been crossified for us on the celestial and eliptic cross. It's all the same. And these events are always spring events, which should not be lost on those that understand the heavenly origins of the literal stories.




Now somewhere along the line Christians and Jews did not want to celebrate their deliverance on the Spring Equinox as that would be too blatantly obvious as to its origins. It would be a sky event, not an earth event. So each has their own way to avoid it. Christians have the best way to find their Easter, which is now, not really Easter as that happened on the Equinox, which they avoid.




Christians have this great formula for Easter:




Take the Spring Equinox, which was yesterday and step ahead to the first full moon, which can be a few days or weeks after Equinox. Once you get to that full moon, which can be any day of any week, take the SUN day following it and call that the Christian Easter. Cool huh. If you thought Jesus rose on any real Easter, you are wrong. It's a concocted Easter date. If you want to get closer to the actual time Jesus was crucified, if he was, but that's another story, one would have to observe the Passover with the Jewish contingent as Jesus, even by New Testament definition, is our Passover, not our Easter Bunny. But then you run into unsolvable contradictions in the story as to who did it and when was it done, not to mention the Sun going dark for three hours which was never recorded anywhere else in history save in the Bible. Christians have spent lifetimes arguing over if Jesus died on the real Passover day, or the day before and if when resurrected met the disciples in Jerusalem or told them to go on to Galilee where he would meet them. The Gospels give us both options but both could not be literally true.
Wisemen, at the time of Jesus birth are said to have "seen his star in the east." These Astrologers from the East, seeing his star to the east, followed it west to Jerusalem, then south to Bethlehem where it stood over a specific home. Uh huh. One does not literally face east , see a star in the east and then follow it west where it makes turns and points out houses. But in the sky one can, but this too is another story.




Christians are sun worshippers to this day and ministers are Sun-Priests no matter how much into De-Nile they go. :) On top of this, someone made it a custom to eat pig and ham on the Christian Easter as an affront to the Jewish Passover which can come close to Easter depending. Sad huh? Nothing is going to separate a Jewish Holy Day, hijacked by the Christians as pointing to them, better than by eating pigs in celebration of the Messiah...go figure.




Well, just thought you needed to know that Easter was yesterday, March 20th at 1;26 PM. The SUN of God was indeed crossified at that precise moment on the beams of the Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic. Run your local meridian thru it and it is even more impressive. The SUN of God has risen from the temptation of the dark months of December thru March to not be the SUN of God. The SUN has been tempted by De-Evil One, the lord of Darkness to just say with him and worship him, but the SUN has Risen and defeated Dark-Evil or D-evil. Now the SUN will begin by chosing two fishermen just like the two fish in Pices, the March Constellation and go to April and be Aires the Lamb. 2000 years ago the Equinox of March was in Aires the Lamb and why Jesus was the Lamb, crucified etc. Nuther story.




Now it's in the Age of Pices, the Fish which has been the symbol of the Church for the past 2000 years. And so the cycle repeats in the heavens over our heads every night. The Sun is born, the Sun overcomes the darkness and dies in the spring for the darkness of the world and it's sins. The Sun rises into Summer and walks on the water of the Milkyway as it rises in June and then goes on to enter the twins of Castor and Pollux where Jesus is said to have put demons out of two men after He was said to walk on water. Bet their names were Castor and Pollux! Then comes the Crab where two stars in that constellation are known as the Northern Ass and the Southern Ass and Jesus, the Son, is said to ride into Jerusalem riding on "THEM BOTH," in his triumphant entry just before his death. This is also true of the story of the Sun as it unfolds during the latter part of any year heading on into death at winter. On earth this would be dumb, but the SUN riding the two asses in the constellation of the Crab in July is totally possible and occurs every summer.




Soon we go on to fall and harvests and feedings of thousands and then betrayal of the Sun/SON by the Scorpion Judas who was a follower, but like a scorpion, can go backwards and give the kiss or sting of death. Jesus is arrested in late fall by Pilate when the SUN enters Saggitarius the Archer and pierced at his darkest moment to lie three days in the grave of December to then be born again on the 25th and it starts all over again. Then Jesus, the SUN/SON enters the first 30 degrees of the next Constellation (for Jesus was about 30 years old when he began to preach) and meets Aquarius, the Water Bearer, or in this story, John the Baptist, the first event in Jesus ministry before going into the wilderness to be tempted of the Darkness not to continue as the SON/SUN of God and the rest is "history."




Either this short view of the 12 month ministry of the SUN of God through the signs of the zodiac and the 12 month journey of the Son of God with his 12 followers is a mere coincidence of history, or the SON/SUN Priests of modern Christianity have been either deliberately or naively ignorant of the deeper origins of the story of the SUN/SON of God, and keeping it under wraps.




So, Happy Easter, it was yesterday and I think most of us missed it. The Sun was crucified at the intersection of the Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic, and if you saw the beams of light spewing from the SUN, you could even imagine them as a crown of thorns. The Sun is now Risen Today and beginning that fascinating ministry across the sky and through the signs of the Zodiac that so match the events Matthew portrays in his book, but that's another story. It ends in death and birth again and the characters on the stage are right over our heads, every clear night of the year. Happy East-er. The Sun has indeed risen in the East. It's all good, and most everyone missed it!
Stay tuned.  Coming soon.   Isaiah 14-Satan-And a Planet Called Venus.

DenniscDiehl@aol.com    

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/165115

Ex-COG Member Slits Throats of Daughters and Self, To Avoid Tribulation (Updated)

More damaging proof that the extreme beliefs of Armstrongism is dangerous to one's health and mental well being!  Her husband is a well established dentist in Pasadena area.  Truly a sad situation for this entire family! They were church members in Pasadena for many years.  Where they went after the break up of the church I don't know.  WCG/GCI doesn't preach this kind of stuff anymore so I imagine they are with  one of the splinter groups.(Verified in the comments below that they are no longer part of COGdoom)

ABC News Story

KTLA News

Cops: Woman Tries to Kill Children, Self to Avoid 'the Tribulation'

Lyn Benedetto was booked at Lancaster Station on $1 million dollars bail.
Watch Cheryl Getuiza's report.

Lyn Benedetto (Handout / March 19, 2011)

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KTLA News

2:51 p.m. PDT, March 19, 2011

ktla-palmdale-woman-attempted-murder

Palmdale (KTLA) -- A woman slit her daughters' throats before slitting her own early Friday evening, claiming that "the Tribulation" was going to occur and she wanted to prevent them from suffering through it, officials said.

Lyn Benedetto, 47, reportedly told her daughters to lie on a bed and proceeded to take a knife to their throats.

The suspect then took the knife to her own throat before driving the victims to an unoccupied friend's house to die.

Lancaster Station deputies responded to a call regarding an "assault with knife" at about 5:32pm from the owner of the residence where the victims had been taken.

The victims and the suspect were found and the location, and the suspect was subsequently arrested.

The victims were treated at Antelope Valley Hospital for moderate though non life-threatening injuries and released to custody of Department of Children's Services.

===============

Antelope Valley News has this posting similar to above, except it includes the comment that the chidlren said their mother did it to them becasue she was scared of the tribulation:

The victims stated their mother  Lyn  Benedetto, 47, believed “The Tribulation” was about to occur and she did not want them to suffer by going through it.   AVNews

The Dilemma of Non-Believing Pastor's

Dennis sent me this link to an interesting paper on non-believing clergy. It is great insight into several ministers who share their stories about how they came to doubt their belief in the God they were brought up with and in the stories that they had been taught as literal.

I knew a few ministers in Armstrongism  that also held these similar beliefs, yet they continued on. There are a couple in UCG and a couple in LCG that I knew that felt this way.  You can imagine the wrath of god that Meredith would reign down on them if he knew.

Some of the guys from UCG are so entrenched and wrapped up in the church that they see no logical way out. They know they will loose everything, houses, homes, families and most importantly friends. It's that intimate contact with friends and co-workers in the faith that keeps them in place.

It is truly a struggle that is obviously quit painful.

Newsweek Article 

The loneliness of non-believing pastors is extreme. They have no trusted confidantes to reassure them, to reflect their own musings back to them, to provide reality checks. As their profiles reveal, even their spouses are often unaware of their turmoil. Why don’t they resign their posts and find a new life? They are caught in a trap, cunningly designed to harness both their best intentions and their basest fears to the task of immobilizing them in their predicament. Their salaries are modest and the economic incentive is to stay in place, to hang on by their fingernails and wait for retirement when they get their pension.


Confiding their difficulties to a superior is not an appealing option: although it would be unlikely to lead swiftly and directly to an involuntary unfrocking. No denomination has a surplus of qualified clergy, and the last thing an administrator wants to hear is that one of the front line preachers is teetering on the edge of default. More likely, such an acknowledgment of doubt would put them on the list of problematic clergy and secure for them the not very helpful advice to soldier on and work through their crises of faith. Speaking in confidence with fellow clergy is also a course fraught with danger, in spite of the fact that some of them are firmly convinced that many, and perhaps most, of their fellow clergy share their lack of belief.




What gives them this impression that they are far from alone, and how did this strange and sorrowful state of affairs arise? The answer seems to lie in the seminary experience shared by all our pastors, liberals and literals alike. Even some conservative seminaries staff their courses on the Bible with professors who are trained in textual criticism, the historical methods of biblical scholarship, and what is taught in those courses is not what the young seminarians learned in Sunday school, even in the more liberal churches. In seminary they were introduced to many of the details that have been gleaned by centuries of painstaking research about how various ancient texts came to be written, copied, translated, and, after considerable jockeying and logrolling, eventually assembled into the Bible we read today. It is hard if not impossible to square these new facts with the idea that the Bible is in all its particulars a true account of actual events, let alone the inerrant word of God. It is interesting that all our pastors report the same pattern of response among their fellow students: some were fascinated, but others angrily rejected what their professors tried to teach them. Whatever their initial response to these unsettling revelations, the cat was out of the bag and both liberals and literals discerned the need to conceal their knowledge about the history of Christianity from their congregations.

Some Lutheran Humor

Here's some Lutheran humor for those god-forsaken (just kidding) ELCA Lutherans that have contacted me.  You also can picture the guy in the white shirt as a COG member and still find the humor in it.  Know it all biblical literalists always are fun to pick on.

Blue Pointy Hats and White Robes

Are you ready to surrender your brain to your minister and start wearing the blue hat and white robe?  The blind obedience to the ministry of Armstrongism is appalling!  It is much better to do what you are told and not enjoy a cigar, some chocolate, etc., in order to show how submissive you are.  I guess he sees no disconnect between his fist paragraph where he says we are to do what a ministers says, but that the failure to follow such commands is not a sin.

There is no dispute that the church has legitimate traditions and the
authority to implement and enforce those traditions. The appointed
ministry could make an edict tomorrow requiring us all to wear blue, pointy,
scull-caps and long white robes. This would be within their authority, and any
member of the congregation who refused to wear a pointy cap could be
rightly dis-fellowshipped by that God given authority. I am unconvinced that
failure wear a pointy hat would be a sin, unless that sin was a sin against
church authority. Failure to wear a pointy hat would (to me) seem to be a
breach of rightfully implemented church tradition. Calling a transgression of
the pointy hat rule a transgression of God's law (SIN) seems to be a bit of a
stretch. Please feel free to correct me on this matter.

The no smoking tradition is based upon an extension of the principal that
our physical body is the Temple of God and that we must do what we can to keep
that temple pristine. This is a good and righteous principal; while recognizing
that this body is a temporary shell that is designed to fail and
thatover-working to "live forever" in the flesh, due to our own physical
efforts, is at best vanity and at worst idolatry.

I have witnessed far too many people in the church (particularly in
Southern California) who seem to be of the opinion that failure to self-medicate
with the latest herbal supplement cure-all fad; and a failure to do the Jane
Fonda work-out 8hrs a day, while enjoying yogurt colonics is also a "sin"
against the temple.

I find it amusing that simply breathing the air in Southern California has
been equated to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.
I also find mildly entertaining the obese, diabetic deacon (with twinkie in
hand) railing against chewing on a green leafy vegetable (tobacco).

Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send
portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our
LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

This is only one of many scriptures that show that as humans there is no
sin in enjoying what could be considered a "guilty pleasure" from time to time
(in moderation). Like chocolate cheese-cake, a drink of good whiskey or (dare I
say it) a fine cigar.

This scripture in Colossians:

Colossians 2:16
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new
moon or sabbaths,
is obviously not talking about smoking a cigar in particular.
but to be fair, the oft quoted:
1 Corinthians 6:19
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
is obviously not talking about smoking a cigar in particular, either.

In conclusion, the church absolutely has the authority to make tradition.
That tradition could legitimately be a ban on smoking, prohibition of make-up,
high fructose corn syrup, and the implementation of mandatory yogurt colon
cleanses and pointy hats as a tradition for us to follow. I am simply not
convinced of the level of "sin" involved in fudging on these traditions, nor the
wisdom of the ministry legislating these types of "specks".


If I am ever so spiritually solid, that a major spiritual concern of mine is
my level of high fructose corn syrup intake, (or more particularly legislation
of my brother's corn syrup intake) then I can safely say that I am over-due to
get hit by a bus, and be whisked off to the kingdom.


B___ L____

Amazing Tsunami Video

When Despair Comes Calling

When Despair Comes Calling

"The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers."

I Samuel 31:3

I always read this scripture and elaborated on its implications when doing the funeral of a Church Member who had taken their own lives.  

This business of the "battle going hard" is one worth discussing.  Sometimes that's just how life feels and rarely, but on occasion, some of those disillusioned by their experience with the Bible, the Church and all the failed promises or misguided perspectives humans allow themselves to adopt can take a final toll.

 ⁴ Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”

   But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day. 

Suicide is a very difficult topic to address when it involves those who had such hope gone badly with regards to religion.  It truly is a permanent solution to temporary problem, but it sure does not seem that way at the time.

As a former pastor, I knew the real truth of some of the deaths in the congregations around me.  I've known of both minister and member who outwardly died suddenly of this or that thing, but really ended their own lives.  It is unspeakable and very difficult to face for those who survive.  If the one who ended their life could see what carnage they leave behind with family and friends, they might rethink it.  However, thinking is not one's strong point when despair overtakes them.

The battle just got overwhelming and despair set down its roots leaving the person with nothing.

Suicide is always seen as a quick thing. It happens in seconds and minutes.  I have known good men, who in the despair of ongoing church drama and endless scandal drank themselves to death.  That takes a bit longer.  In our culture one is allowed to kill themselves slowly by confusing sugar, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine as the four food groups.  It's ok to kill yourself slowly.  But it is not ok to take your life quickly.  You can abuse yourself willingly years and die knowing life styles and addictions are taking their toll, but you can't turn on a lethal drip of something to choose the time of your death.

 We might wonder if Jesus, in the story, did not commit suicide.  Overturning tables in the Temple with the Romans already waiting to crush any trouble around the Temple during Passover might be considered suicidal.  It worked for Jesus.  Stephen seems to have committed suicide by flapping his mouth against those that could hurt him.  His deaconship was rather short lived.  He may have done better had he explained his position or discussed it. But just ramming it down their throats was definitely suicide.

In the Bible, some seem to see proof that "God" hates abortion and those that end the life of a child in the womb are murderers.  However, if you have any sense of the Bible stories, it is not difficult to conclude that all bets are off once the child is actually born.

  "God" is real big in the OT on scraping the children of the enemy off the face of the earth, and in ways that would leave most of us with life long nightmares if we saw how it was done.  Go watch the stoning of a woman on Youtube.  It still happens.  Actually don't.  You'll be sorry that clip now plays in your head.  Strange and horrific rules and laws from the mind of the God who became Love. 

But let's talk about the fast form and the form that arises when despair in the heart of the person has reached it's maximum. I realize this is an almost unspeakable topic. Let's talk about it. 

Recently I noticed that in my town all the radio preachers were talking about suicide.  It seemed odd.  All of them were warning against it or equating it to letting Satan get in and work his magic etc.  I found out that in the month just before and after Xmas, several local pastors had ended their lives.  Now the programs made sense, but the act of a minister killing himself did not of course and they felt they all had to talk about it.  I only recall them addressing it as a no no for the yet living congregants and Satan getting all the credit, but one never found out what the despair in the heart of the victim really was. 

Why do deeply religious people sometimes end their lives?  The killer is despair. Why despair?  Because in religion one is supposed to find the answers and the hope and the meaning of it all.  In our experience with WCG, the Wonderful World Tomorrow became the Horrible World Today again with a heavy dose of anger, skepticism and despair over "what it's all about."  Idealists and those who can't suffer drama well are perhaps the most vulnerable.

Our religious beliefs are supposed to relieve the drama, anxiety and fear we experience in life.  It's why when others attack your faith or beliefs we fight back. If you take away my truth or if you show me wrong in a way that leaves nothing encouraging, one loses courage and the trinity of drama, anxiety and fear return putting us back where we first began when we thought we had the truth that held it at bay.  We're all afraid of death. Religion is what humans adopt to reduce that fear and the anxiety that sits just below the surface whispering "it's all for nothing."  The last sermon I ever gave was entitled, "Nothing is for Nothing."  It was the only topic I could come up with to wrap up the previous 30 years.  I still believe it so we'll see.

According to Psychology Today...

In general, people try to kill themselves for six reasons:

1. They're depressed. This is without question the most common reason people commit suicide. Severe depression is always accompanied by a pervasive sense of suffering as well as the belief that escape from it is hopeless. The pain of existence often becomes too much for severely depressed people to bear. The state of depression warps their thinking, allowing ideas like "Everyone would all be better off without me" to make rational sense. They shouldn't be blamed for falling prey to such distorted thoughts any more than a heart patient should be blamed for experiencing chest pain: it's simply the nature of their disease. Because depression, as we all know, is almost always treatable, we should all seek to recognize its presence in our close friends and loved ones. Often people suffer with it silently, planning suicide without anyone ever knowing. Despite making both parties uncomfortable, inquiring directly about suicidal thoughts in my experience almost always yields an honest response. 
2. They're psychotic. Malevolent inner voices often command self-destruction for unintelligible reasons. Psychosis is much harder to mask than depression-and arguably even more tragic. The worldwide incidence of schizophrenia is 1% and often strikes otherwise healthy, high-performing individuals, whose lives, though manageable with medication, never fulfill their original promise.
3. They're impulsive. Often related to drugs and alcohol, some people become maudlin and impulsively attempt to end their own lives. Once sobered and calmed, these people usually feel emphatically ashamed. The remorse is usually genuine, and whether or not they'll ever attempt suicide again is unpredictable. They may try it again the very next time they become drunk or high, or never again in their lifetime.
4. They're crying out for help, and don't know how else to get it. These people don't usually want to die but do want to alert those around them that something is seriously wrong. They often don't believe they will die, frequently choosing methods they don't think can kill them in order to strike out at someone who's hurt them-but are sometimes tragically misinformed.
5. They have a philosophical desire to die. The decision to commit suicide for some is based on a reasoned decision often motivated by the presence of a painful terminal illness from which little to no hope of reprieve exists. These people aren't depressed, psychotic, maudlin, or crying out for help. They're trying to take control of their destiny and alleviate their own suffering, which usually can only be done in death.
6. They've made a mistake. This is a recent, tragic phenomenon in which typically young people flirt with oxygen deprivation for the high it brings and simply go too far. The only defense against this, it seems to me, is education.
7.  

Everyone I have ever asked, "Have you ever considered suicide," said..."yes of course. We all have those times when the thought crosses one's mind."  And then they forget about it. 

Sometimes those who find no reason to go on, and more commonly today than ever, feel the need to take others with them. Our collective experience with Milwaukee and the WCG is a case in point. I always felt that somewhere, sometime this event would come to WCG or at least one of the splinters. I felt it would happen a bit higher up the chain but the Saturday morning when I heard that there was a Saturday morning rampage in a church in a hotel setting, I said to myself, "It has happened."  And it had. That's what despair can do. 

What to look for.

WARNING SIGNS

Conditions associated with increased risk of suicide

• Death or terminal illness of relative or friend. 
•  
• Divorce, separation, broken relationship, stress on family. 
•  
• Loss of health (real or imaginary). 
•  
• Loss of job, home, money, status, self-esteem, personal security. 
•  
• Alcohol or drug abuse. 
•  
• Depression. In the young depression may be masked by hyperactivity or acting out behavior. In the elderly it may be incorrectly attributed to the natural effects of aging. Depression that seems to quickly disappear for no apparent reason is cause for concern. The early stages of recovery from depression can be a high risk period. Recent studies have associated anxiety disorders with increased risk for attempted suicide. 
•  

Emotional and behavioral changes associated with suicide

• Overwhelming Pain: pain that threatens to exceed the person's pain coping capacities. Suicidal feelings are often the result of longstanding problems that have been exacerbated by recent precipitating events. The precipitating factors may be new pain or the loss of pain coping resources.
• Hopelessness: the feeling that the pain will continue or get worse; things will never get better.
• Powerlessness: the feeling that one's resources for reducing pain are exhausted.
• Feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt, self-hatred, no one cares. Fears of losing control, harming self or others.
• Personality becomes sad, withdrawn, tired, apathetic, anxious, irritable, or prone to angry outbursts.
• Declining performance in school, work, or other activities. (Occasionally the reverse: someone who volunteers for extra duties because they need to fill up their time.)
• Social isolation; or association with a group that has different moral standards than those of the family.
• Declining interest in sex, friends, or activities previously enjoyed.
• Neglect of personal welfare, deteriorating physical appearance.
• Alterations in either direction in sleeping or eating habits.
• (Particularly in the elderly) Self-starvation, dietary mismanagement, disobeying medical instructions.
• Difficult times: holidays, anniversaries, and the first week after discharge from a hospital; just before and after diagnosis of a major illness; just before and during disciplinary proceedings. Undocumented status adds to the stress of a crisis. 
•  

Suicidal Behavior

 

• Previous suicide attempts, mini-attempts.
• Explicit statements of suicidal ideation or feelings.
• Development of suicidal plan, acquiring the means, rehearsal behavior, setting a time for the attempt.
• Self-inflicted injuries, such as cuts, burns, or head banging.
• Reckless behavior. (Besides suicide, other leading causes of death among young people in New York City are homicide, accidents, drug overdose, and AIDS.) Unexplained accidents among children and the elderly.
• Making out a will or giving away favorite possessions.
• Inappropriately saying goodbye.
• Verbal behavior that is ambiguous or indirect: I'm going away on a real long trip., You won't have to worry about me anymore., I want to go to sleep and never wake up., I'm so depressed, I just can't go on., Does God punish suicides?, Voices are telling me to do bad things., requests for euthanasia information, inappropriate joking, stories or essays on morbid themes.  

How to Help

Take it seriously.

Myth: The people who talk about it don't do it. Studies have found that more than 75% of all completed suicides did things in the few weeks or months prior to their deaths to indicate to others that they were in deep despair. Anyone expressing suicidal feelings needs immediate attention. 
Myth: Anyone who tries to kill himself has got to be crazy. Perhaps 10% of all suicidal people are psychotic or have delusional beliefs about reality. Most suicidal people suffer from the recognized mental illness of depression; but many depressed people adequately manage their daily affairs. The absence of craziness does not mean the absence of suicide risk.
Those problems weren't enough to commit suicide over, is often said by people who knew a completed suicide. You cannot assume that because you feel something is not worth being suicidal about, that the person you are with feels the same way. It is not how bad the problem is, but how badly it's hurting the person who has it. 

Remember: suicidal behavior is a cry for help.

Myth: If a someone is going to kill himself, nothing can stop him. The fact that a person is still alive is sufficient proof that part of him wants to remain alive. The suicidal person is ambivalent -- part of him wants to live and part of him wants not so much death as he wants the pain to end. It is the part that wants to live that tells another I feel suicidal. If a suicidal person turns to you it is likely that he believes that you are more caring, more informed about coping with misfortune, and more willing to protect his confidentiality. No matter how negative the manner and content of his talk, he is doing a positive thing and has a positive view of you. 

Be willing to give and get help sooner rather than later.

Suicide prevention is not a last minute activity. All textbooks on depression say it should be reached as soon as possible. Unfortunately, suicidal people are afraid that trying to get help may bring them more pain: being told they are stupid, foolish, sinful, or manipulative; rejection; punishment; suspension from school or job; written records of their condition; or involuntary commitment. You need to do everything you can to reduce pain, rather than increase or prolong it. Constructively involving yourself on the side of life as early as possible will reduce the risk of suicide. 

Listen.

Give the person every opportunity to unburden his troubles and ventilate his feelings. You don't need to say much and there are no magic words. If you are concerned, your voice and manner will show it. Give him relief from being alone with his pain; let him know you are glad he turned to you. Patience, sympathy, acceptance. Avoid arguments and advice giving. 

ASK: Are you having thoughts of suicide?

Myth: Talking about it may give someone the idea. People already have the idea; suicide is constantly in the news media. If you ask a despairing person this question you are doing a good thing for them: you are showing him that you care about him, that you take him seriously, and that you are willing to let him share his pain with you. You are giving him further opportunity to discharge pent up and painful feelings. If the person is having thoughts of suicide, find out how far along his ideation has progressed.

If the person is acutely suicidal, do not leave him alone.

If the means are present, try to get rid of them. Detoxify the home. 

Urge professional help.

Persistence and patience may be needed to seek, engage and continue with as many options as possible. In any referral situation, let the person know you care and want to maintain contact. 

No secrets.

It is the part of the person that is afraid of more pain that says Don't tell anyone. It is the part that wants to stay alive that tells you about it. Respond to that part of the person and persistently seek out a mature and compassionate person with whom you can review the situation. (You can get outside help and still protect the person from pain causing breaches of privacy.) Do not try to go it alone. Get help for the person and for yourself. Distributing the anxieties and responsibilities of suicide prevention makes it easier and much more effective. 

From crisis to recovery.

Most people have suicidal thoughts or feelings at some point in their lives; yet less than 2% of all deaths are suicides. Nearly all suicidal people suffer from conditions that will pass with time or with the assistance of a recovery program. There are hundreds of modest steps we can take to improve our response to the suicidal and to make it easier for them to seek help. Taking these modest steps can save many lives and reduce a great deal of human suffering.

Sometimes the battle goes hard against us.  But ending one's life is a permanent solution to a temporary problem and leaves a lifetime of anger, guilt and shame for those left behind.  

"How do you know you are supposed to having the experience in life you are having?  Because you are having it."

Eckhart Tolle

"Experience is not only the best teacher, it is the only one.  Everything else is merely hearsay."

Me

I hope this is a helpful and balanced view.  Those you never hear about in the saga and drama of the WCG are those we need to remember and encourage. Tens of thousands associated with WCG have simply faded away to wonder what that was all about.  Most will keep searching for their truth and continue their journey. Some will give up or be tempted to give in to the despair that theological upheaval inflicted on the many by the few can cause.  Those who have hijacked the hopes of others, perpetuate their own views and do very very well at it will be fine.  They are empty clouds but doing well.

And finally in answer to the thought that went through your minds while reading this...the answer is no.  I am fine.  I have been here as have many.  But I am fine.

DenniscDiehl@aol.com