The Dilemma of God as Healer

From The Progressive Redneck Preacher blog.   The author is a former WCG minister.

As I reflect on the Psalmist’s words, fleshing out who this “Great I AM” is revealed to Moses in Exodus 3-4, I find myself stumbling a bit over this description of Yahweh, whose name is usually translated “The LORD”, but which I render “the Living One” here as an allusion to God’s explanation that Yahweh is the I Am in opposition to gods that are not.  This Living One or One Who is “heals all our diseases”.

I remember as a young boy in the Church of God movement in which I was blessed as a baby and raised, hearing a lot about healing.  Though this particular Church of God movement was not the Pentecostal movement called Church of God, but instead a Church of God group that was a spin-off of the Seventh Day Adventists, boy did they believe in healing.   I was told coming up how daddy and momma tried real hard to become parents to no avail.  And how they went finally, in an act of desperation and faith, came to the preacher at the Church of God and he (yes, these churches only had preachers who were “he’s”: no women preachers since Jesus wasn’t a woman, after all) took healing oil, anointed momma like it says to be anointed in the book of James, and “bam!” next thing we knew my big brother was on the way.   And then, one after another, each of the rest of us four children came into the world.  Growing up with that story of anointing and healing inspired me, especially with a name liked “Micah” taken from the story of the Bible prophet, to see my life as having begun with great purpose.  To see myself, like the Psalmist in Psalm 139, as knit together even in my mother’s womb with potential to be one who, together with God, helped the world become more beautiful and whole. 

Yet I also remember growing up hearing a counter-story.   Each of us, when we got sick, in turn, had the preachers of the church come, take that book of James healing oil and smear it on our foreheads, praying for God’s healing presence to be known.   So many stories were told of how it brought healing and comfort to us.  Daddy told us too, though, how one of us had oil placed on their head, when dealing with meningitis.   Like a snap of the fingers, that meningitis went away.  Yet, years later, this dear little one developed childhood diabetes.  And all the anointing and praying in the world wouldn’t take it away.  Daddy agonized over that.  How could God be healer, if God touched us in so many healing ways through their faith and the preacher’s hands, yet also didn’t heal something as serious as diabetes?

Later, other conditions of all types struck our family and each of us in turn struggled over how to understand God as the Living One “who heals our diseases”.

Read the entire story here:

The Dilemma of God as Healer in a World of Illness, Pain, and Disability

Join the Dugger Family On The Big Sandy Campus

You too can join the Dugger family for a weekend on the former Ambassador College campus in Big Sandy, TX where you can delve deeper into the cultic beliefs of the Quiverfull cult.  You can learn patriarchy, how to make your wives and children really submit, and you can share warm stories around the campfire about your glory days attending the BS Feast site and camping in the very same spot!

If you thought the craziness of Armstrongism was legalistic, just wait till you learn how it really should be in the QUIVERFULL cult!

GOTHARD’S ATI AND THE DUGGAR FAMILY’S SECRETS

What Is Quiverfull?

What It Was Like to Grow Up Quiverfull

How Playing Good Christian Housewife Almost Killed Me

Escaping the Extreme Christian Fundamentalism of “Quiverfull

What Is Quiverfull? Here’s a look inside the Duggars’ dangerous Christian cult

Welcome to the Duggar’s world of Independent Fundamental Baptists

What You Need To Know About The ‘Quiverfull’ Movement

What Religion Are The Duggars from TLC's '19 Kids & Counting'? It's Pretty Exclusive

How the Duggers' Church Encourages Young Women To Submit

I could’ve been a Duggar wife: I grew up in the same church, and the abuse scandal doesn’t shock me

UCG Examining Whether To Make DUB A Full 7 Days

UCG has some "papers" submitted to them that they are going to be discussing.  Not a single one of these is of any actual importance.

Project 54: Age of the Universe: Young Earth Creationism (YEC) is a popular belief, and it can be compelling on the surface, but it collapses billions of years of recorded data into a space of 1,000 years before the flood. Many forms of dating the earth are dismissed. The Achilles heel of the YEC is the speed of light and the diameter of the universe being 27.2 billion light years across. YEC also doesn’t consider the rebellion of Satan and his demons.

Project 46: Unleavened Bread Services for Seven Days: Proposed that Mr. Armstrong made a bad decision to reverse his custom of holding daily services during UB. (Actually it was more of a localized custom [i.e., Ambassador College] done for a brief number of years.) There is no scriptural directive for daily offerings as there is during the FOT.  

Project 11: Passover and the NTBMO Are on the Same Evening: An opinion has been making the rounds that Israel kept the first Passover, staying in their houses all night, and somehow also spoiled the Egyptians that night, and traveled with their animals to assemble at Rameses that night and all marched out of Rameses all on the same night. That idea attempts to be reinforced with a first century Jewish tradition of the time of the killing of Passover lambs. Believers of this concept attempt to impose events from during the Sinai Covenant onto the observance of the New Covenant Passover. First Corinthians 11:23 cuts through it all as it states, “The Lord Jesus on the same night He was betrayed took bread . . . ” We keep the New Covenant Passover. We teach what Scripture teaches and observe accordingly.

UCG Sydney AU is so dysfunctional that UCG members won't even attend when visiting the city.

UCG has always been known to be dysfunctional, but a comment on a Yahoo group proves that further.  UCG members are avoiding their own church like the plague.  On top of that, UCG is being out preached by the Seventh Day Adventists and Church of God 7th Day.  Unlike UCG, Adventists  and COG7 make no excuses for what they believe, UCG and most other COG's are embarrassed about themselves and are constantly making excuses for hiding what they claim to believe.

Church of God 7th Day and the Adventists are putting the regular Churches of God to shame.  Both preach what they believe and are active in their communities and around the world.  The Church of God is not.

UCG pays thousands of dollars to hold campaigns around the country.  One of their latest attempts they are bragging about had around 145 in attendance.  Of that number only 25 some "new" people showed up.  The rest of the audience was padded with 120 UCG members.  The COG message is shallow out out of touch with 21st century life and issues.  The Adventists and COG7 get it, the Church of God does not.

Even till today I know UCG people who if they have to visit Sydney on business. They will not attend the Sydney UCG. On the Sabbath. 

Which is voting will your feet. 

One other thing that I have noticed. Back in the 1970s HWA had a great interesting broadcast. 

Where now days hardly any of the cogs stand out. 

He in NZ the SDAs have there own Full time TV station plus one part time Station. 

As for preaching Gods laws they are spot on. 

Regarding prophecy and Gods laws they are now very close to what HWA taught.

 Those who preach on the SDAs TV stations have an excellent grasp on gods laws. They all preach the same. 

There is  a new big boy on the block. 

Aaron Dean: Due to Brexit/Trump/UN resolution on Israel...etc....Time is very close!

What will the church be saying 20, 30, 40 years from now when they are still sitting in their homes claiming "the end is nigh?"

I don't necessarily disagree with what you observe, but a quick reading of Rev 2 and 3 show the church has often been in bad shape. :-(

Also Gideon's army shows numbers don't matter, and HWA's last comment was that the purification of the bride comes next.  That sorting has been happening since he died. 

Rev 14:3-4 indicate there are 144,000 "first-fruits". Perhaps God has about reached the number he wants in the 1st resurrection.  HWA and I discussed this before he died.

Prophecy is now taking place with Brexit/Trump/UN resolution on Israel...etc. Time is very close.  God can pull the chord at any time.

We simply need to make sure we are "Working out our own salvation with fear and trembling".  You can't make others do anything, you can only try to inspire them to change themselves.

Aaron

UCG and its astounding growth...NOT

This was sent in by a reader this morning.  Check out the astounding growth the UCG is experiencing.  This is the exact same thing that is happening in all the other splinter groups.  They are replacing those who die with new members who are usually disgruntled refugee's from other splinter group.

Actually, UCG is having some growth...at least replacing those who die. Not all congregations are getting smaller. Holding your own or some small growth is more than any other group I know of.  We are in the time of the end. There are "wise" and "foolish" virgins.

UCG is also the only group who has successfully merged with another group (CGCF).  They even had a member on the UCG board within two years and another a few years later. Where else could that happen but in UCG's structure.  Sadly, some of them with COGWA in the split, but one is still on our board.   

As to merging, there is a process, and it is difficult, mostly because of the personalities involved and lack of humility.  While one may have a great relationship with an individual congregation, that does not go across the board. For example Living and UCG had a joint activity in Alaska at the feast.  An elder at that event who went to New Zealand the following year tried to do it there, but the living elder said "Living doesn't do that".  It is a real mix out there so be careful not to label all by a personal (perhaps correct), but limited experience. There may be a history and reasons why, but each situation seems different with most making judgments based on incomplete information.  

Having worked directly with HWA in the final years, it is hard for me not to feel like Haggai and Zerubbabel and the '2nd temple' being so much less...but it is not by our power, but by God's.  He controls the size of his army and where they are.  I pray not to get in his way.

Aaron Dean

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Living Church of God: Weston, McNair and Winnail Wasted Precious Minutes With Richard Ames Stroke Issues

When you read Gerald Weston's comments below about Richard Ames recent stroke you will see one of the sad legacies of the church.   Instead of rushing him to the hospital because of the stroke, they anointed him and waited, expecting an immediate healing.  A logical person does not wait when a person is slurring their speech and  is losing feeling in there  extremities.

Prayer Request – Mr. Richard Ames

03/06/2017/in Prayer Requests /

Please remember Mr. Richard Ames in your prayers.  The message below comes from Headquarters.

Dear Fellow Ministers:

I want to update you on a situation that occurred this afternoon.  Mr. Richard Ames called me to request anointing as he was having a health problem.  It was clear that he was having trouble speaking as his speech was slurred and he reported having numbness on his right side.  Dr. Winnail, Rod McNair and I anointed him and he was better immediately, but reverted back to the slurring shortly thereafter.  We decided to call the paramedics and he was taken to hospital where he is going through a series of tests and will remain there overnight.  The problem seems to be intermittent and so far there has been no diagnosis.  Initial tests at the hospital were favorable. Your prayers will be greatly appreciated and we will keep you informed when we know more.

Kind regards,

GEW