When a person reads thorough the letters and articles written by Rod Meredith and others on the Living Church of God (LCG) website you will quickly see that things are not as unified in the LCG as they want you to believe. Almost every single article and exportation from Meredith, Winnail and others has to continually harp upon "unity."
In Meredith's latest letter to the membership he dwells longingly upon the "glory days" of the distant past. As most people approaching the end of their lives this is a typical mind process. However, with Meredith, this has been going on for decades. In the glory days of yore, people were more faithful, more loyal, more diligent, and more willing to follow government. Today, no so much so.
Meredith looks back upon the old Church of God's ability to focus upon a common goal, something that not one single splinter Church of God has been able to accomplish since. Meredith believes that the early days of the COG consisted of one big happy unified and loyal group.
Back then, there were no dormitories
at Ambassador College. In eating our meals, we had to basically “fend
for ourselves” to survive. And, because of a financial crisis, Mr.
Armstrong was almost forced to close the entire
college. In fact, he did at one point put the faculty on half-time
salary so they were only able to teach three days a week.
Yet, those who stayed were faithful enough that the Work grew and prospered because of a few key factors:
- Most of us were loyal and unified because we were able to see the “Big Picture.”
Meredith is certainly correct in the idea that the church seemed more unified and goal oriented back then. Now it seems to be a different story in the Living Church of God, something that Meredith CANNOT seem to correct.
Notice the following comment by Meredith and how he admits that the LCG is NOT entirely behind him 100%. Meredith feels that there is a certain percentage that is not unified or as zealous as he wants them to be. They have NOT caught his vision. People are not as tied to his "tradition" as he wants them to be. It is more important to Meredith that people carry out "that" tradition than it is to follow Jesus Christ. Its still all about the rules
We in the present Work of the Living Church of God have dedicated ourselves
to carry on in that same tradition. And Christ has certainly blessed us
with a great deal of unity and zeal because of having that same spirit.
I hope that all of you dear brethren will “catch the vision” and realize how we must carry on even if something happens to me, to Mr. Ames or to any one of us as we grow older in this present physical life. For in carrying out that tradition, our real life is at stake—our coming eternal life in the Kingdom or Family of God and the kind of reward we will receive is definitely based on how well we serve God in our human lives right now (Luke 19:11–19).
Meredith then talks about "unity" again. He knows, as does every one else, that the LCG is NOT unified. It is going to blow up after his death just like the Worldwide Church of God did. There is NOT a "bond of peace" in the LCG. There is also growing disappointment in the "government" of the LCG considering how abusive, controlling and wasteful some of its ministers have been lately. Nepotism and corruption seem to reign supreme in Charlotte.
LCG members continue to be "tossed to and fro" and are carried away by the "cunning and plotting of this blog and other sites. That is what he is really getting at there.There are big bad meanies out there in the world attempting to open the eyes of LCG members and that does not sit well with the Charlotte empire.
In His inspired Word, the Eternal God commands us to be “endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:3–6). Then, as Christ inspired
Paul, the apostle tells us that Christ Himself “gave some to be
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no
longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind
of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of
deceitful plotting” (Ephesians 4:11–14).
Its all about government folks! Though that is Herbert Armstrong's version of what he thought Paul did. You would think after 80 some years of that epic failure in "government" in the COG that Meredith and others would wake up tot he fact that it has failed miserably to keep the church unified and the members inspired.
It is important to focus on the fact that we in the Living Church of God have been following that same pattern
of Church government God inspired the Apostle Paul to outline. Some try
to pretend that the inspired form of Church government is “not
important.” But it is vitally important that we learn to teach and practice the same form of Church government we certainly will be teaching and administering in Christ’s soon-coming Kingdom!
Then Meredith has to talk about "unity" again. Notice how "great deal," "vast," and "overwhelmingly" are used to give the impression that there is 100% unity in the LCG. Apparently from what is written there is a percentage of ministers that are NOT giving themselves over to the work. Unity is not a reality, it is only a "sense of reality."
So we have a great deal of unity. The vast majority of
our ministers and members all “speak the same thing.” And we are
overwhelmingly involved in “giving ourselves” to “do the Work”!
Brethren, I am extremely grateful to report to you in the name of Christ
that we do have a greater sense of unity and harmony in this present
Work than at any other time I can remember in the 63 years of my full-time service!
After praising Richard Ames and Gerald Weston as being "tested by fire" in their loyalty tot he work, Meredith moves on to the ministry of the LCG. In his very first sentence he acknowledges that the ministry is NOT unified under his leadership. Loyalty seems to be an issue even with the ministry of the LCG. Everyone knows that there is presently plotting and scheming going on in the background on what to do after Meredith dies. He even compares some of his more popular ministers to Lucifer, which certainly is NOT a sure way to gain unity or loyalty from the ranks! Lucifer was not loyal to God and some LCG ministers are not loyal to Rod.
Dear brethren, please be sure to pray fervently for all
of our faithful ministers—many of whom are doing a tremendous work.
These men are worthy of your full support and loyalty. For Christ wants
in His Church and Kingdom those who are absolutely loyal.
Sometimes different ones come along with more technical knowledge or
more of a “scintillating” personality. But God has been down that road
before. For He had a magnificently beautiful cherub named “Lucifer” who
had all kinds of ability and influence, but who “turned aside.” Lucifer
was not loyal to His Creator. We must not be
like that. Rather, we must do what we can to continue the wonderful
spirit of unity, brotherly love and service which is already extant in
the Living Church of God. This will require a spirit of deep humility
from all of us, and the willingness to humble ourselves to work together
as a team. Christ Himself warned: “And whoever exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).
You can read the rest of the article here:
The "Fruits" of the True Church
