COGWA: It Is Ok To Eat Out On Saturdays

One of the age-old debates in the Church of God is whether it is ok to eat in a restaurant on Friday nights or Saturday during the day. Legalists, like Pharisee James Malm, go into mental meltdowns over the idea of someone enjoying a relaxing meal with friends after church on a Saturday. Even worse, if you take your kids out to Ihop Saturday morning for some pancakes and family time together. Ghastly days!

This is one thing Herbert Armstrong never spoke out against, thankfully, nor did he ever change his mind. Only those that worship the law down through the years have been those that have made this an issue.

COGWA had this up on their site:

Page 17 of 18

EATING IN A RESTAURANT ON THE SABBATH

Three points should be made clear:

1. It is not sinful to eat in a restaurant on the Sabbath.
2. It is not wrong to refrain from eating in a restaurant on the Sabbath.
3. It is wrong for members to judge others for their decision on whether they choose to eat in a restaurant on the Sabbath.

The decision to eat in a restaurant on the Sabbath is a matter of how to keep the Sabbath, not whether to keep it. There is no disagreement about the Sabbath being holy.

Herbert Armstrong’s teaching and practice on this subject can be traced as far back as the late 1940s, and he consistently taught that eating in a restaurant on the Sabbath was permissible. This subject has been examined by conscientious and capable ministers many times throughout the modern history of the Church, and the conclusion has always been the same.

The Church of God, a Worldwide Association, teaches that it is not a sin to eat in a restaurant on the Sabbath. If members choose to go to a restaurant for food and fellowship on the Sabbath, they are not doing something that Christ would judge as being evil, but that which is acceptable and appropriate.

10 Sure Signs Of A Church of God Leader

A Way of Thinking

PCG: Partial Feast Site Registrations So Far This Year

INTERNATIONAL SITES

Stratford-upon-Avon, UK

assigned countries 11

attendees 220

separate activities 9

hours messages 20

Plantation Estate, Tobago

assigned countries 9

attendees 200

separate activities 9

hours messages 20

Jerusalem, Israel

assigned countries 1 

attendees 60

separate activities 9

hours messages 20

Tweed Heads, Australia

assigned countries 2 

attendees 350

separate activities 9

hours messages 20

Baguio, Philippines

assigned countries 6

attendees 400

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

Buffelspoort, South Africa

assigned countries 9 

attendees 200

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

UNITED STATES SITES

Edmond, OK HQ

assigned states 11

attendees 650

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

Welches, OR

assigned states 5

attendees 225

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

Cranberry, PA

assigned states 15

attendees 325

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

Lake Geneva, WI

assigned states 8

attendees 275

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

Greenville, SC

assigned states 7

attendees 550

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

Phoenix, AZ

assigned states 5

attendees 350

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

CANADIAN SITES

Invermere, BC

assigned states 3

attendees 200

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

Sault Ste. Marie, ON

assigned provinces 7 

attendees 225

separate activities 9

hours of messages 20

4,230 registered so far

Breaking that number down would include baptized members, children and "unconverted" spouses that may be attending with baptized members.

Is the COG prepared for an Ezra style of zeal to sweep through the church by Feast time?

Our official Church of God Pharisee and Zealot James Malm is getting ready to prepare his tens of faithful to prepare for a push in September to light an "Ezra" style "revival" of righteousness he wants to sweep over the church. This needs to happen to prepare the church for the setting up of the pope or his agent as he begins working miracles to deceive the entire world.

This is all in preparation for the 2 witless witnesses, Ron and Laura Weinland, so they can head off to Jerusalem to witness for 3 1/2 days in the streets where they will then be slaughtered on live streaming news for the world to see.

Meanwhile, the Great Bwana to Africa Bob Thiel will have started to take his faithful to Petra and take over the prime caves and hotel rooms. Or at least he thought he was.  Gerald Weston is already there with his followers and has taken over everything. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride.

The Chief Pharisee will imagine he need not worry too much as he is not heading to Petra anyway.  Pella is his destination, but imagine his surprise when he gets there and finds other COG groups and other Christians already in charge! The zealot will NOT be happy!  Foiled yet again!

Meanwhile, Christ is still stuck in Wadsworth as he and Dave plan his third coming in glory and majesty next to the Giant Eagle.

Isn't it amazing to live in the end times and witness all of these wonders in the church!  Woo Hoo!

After polishing the first 8 chapters of Isaiah it is clear that there will be more work involved than first thought and the talks have been suspended for this updating of the prophets.  

The priority for the talks was to do studies from Abram to Jesus to untangle the complex history and focus on the many already fulfilled prophecies ahead of Purim and Passover, because of the relevance for that time and the importance of building faith ahead of this year’s trials. 

Now my focus will be on polishing and republishing the prophets through the next five months into September ahead of the 2020 Feast of Tabernacles.  

From mid September the focus will be on Fall Festival material and trying to ignite a blazing Ezra style revival of  zeal for godliness so as to be ready for the setting up of the miracle working abomination in Rome if this should be the year.  If we have one more year that revival effort will continue. 

Updated: This is MY Plain Truth: Speaking Out Against The Worldwide Church Of God Cult

I am the “young man” in this video, David. While I appreciate the comments about my youth I want to make it clear that I am in my 30s and was born into the church a decade before the split, around the time of HWA’s death. My mother (born 1950) had been well indoctrinated into the church since the early 50s and my father joined as an adult in the late 60s (born in 1940). The WCG forced my dad to leave behind his military career after 15 years of service and two tours in Vietnam, just five years short of retirement, ruining his career. The church experience drove my mother into a state of manic depression after her best friend shot herself, having been forced to divorce her husband when the ministers discovered he had been married once before her. They had three children. My mother is now a dependent of the state and a psychotropic drug addict. She spends her days in a Xanax and Lithium induced haze and can’t remember what we talked about yesterday. My dad was an orphan who was sold into literal slavery on a ranch in Sulfur Oklahoma by the Baptist Children’s Home in OKC after his mother shot herself during the final years of the Great Depression. The church preyed on his lack of education and desire to fit in after being tossed aside by his family and physically abused by his drunk adopted father. My family is made up of abused and damaged people and they were taken advantage of by the fear mongering of Herbert W. Armstrong’s teachings. 

When I began questioning the church as a teen I had delusions for around a year where I was convinced that a demon was talking to me and trying to trick me into leaving, as the church ministers had told us as children that demons followed us and watched our every move, reporting our actions to Satan and looking for an opportunity to possess us should we deviate from the church. I didn’t admit verbally for nearly two years that I questioned the teachings for fear that I would be attacked by demons. I am in my mid 30s and still can’t sleep without a light on in my home because the pitch dark makes me feel like something is closing in on me and suffocating me. Can you imagine growing up in childhood feeling like you’re under angry celestial surveillance 24/7? If you grew up in this church I’m sure you relate. I’ve been through therapy and counseling, anger management, had the police called on me by my family because they thought I was being rebellious against god when I lashed out in anger. The person you saw being interviewed in this video is who I am now and while I freely acknowledge that generations before me had it worse because of the era they grew up in, make no mistake that the environment I was brought up in was forged out of the worst era of the church. And when the split happened in 95 my mother’s entire family bitterly left and joined the splinter groups while my immediate family stayed and fought over what to do. Fortunately, my dad had the sense to leave the church and allow me to leave with him as a teen. That’s what saved me, but as I said, I struggled through my teens and twenties to end up a functioning adult. And I will speak out against the church again. This was just the beginning.

Oh, for the Love of Me...